My London Experience

Monday, March 16th 2009

2009-03-16T11:52:00.001-07:00

Hello my blogging friends!

I was sitting at work today thinking about how many blogs I read to keep up with everyone back home and then realised that I don't keep my own up anymore! I sat down and had a read through of some of the old posts of when I first moved to London and I just laughed! This has truly been an amazing experience for me! Good thing I started this blog because a lot of this stuff I completely forgot about!

Lets see, what have I been up to. Work Work and more Work! I have a great job that I absolutely love, however, the hours are really long! I am getting some good experience in many different areas of the Insurance Industry though which will help me long term.

I am also studying for an Insurance Exam (again!) The exam is in April and I'm really nervous as this is the last one I need to receive this qualification that I'm after! Its a series of 10 exams, and I was exempt from 9 because of all the schooling I have had. So you would think I would know this stuff by now!

Ata and I are doing well! Things are about to get really complicated for us, so please pray that God will lead us in the right direction. Everything happens for a reason and even if I don't initially like the outcome, I know God has a plan for me.

My flatmate situation right now is very interesting, but that can be another post!

Sunday, July 27th

2008-08-24T05:19:00.001-07:00

Sorry I'm a little behind on my blogging, so I'll update this over the next couple of days with everything that has been going on. First I'll talk about my vacation, which was about a month ago now. It was definitely wonderful and relaxing!!!

I'll talk about New York first!

Ata and I arrived into Philadelphia around 8:30 on Wednesday night. We were completely exhausted as we had been flying since 11am our time! We had a layover in Ohio, so by the time we finally landed in Philadelphia, we were ready for bed. My grandparents and brother picked us up at the airport. It was so nice to them, since it had been almost 2 years since I've seen my dad's parents. I hate that it has been that long, and I promised myself that I will never let it go that long ever again! We got back to their house and my Aunt Sue came over to meet Ata and just hang out with everyone. Ata and I ended up being up for 24 hours straight! We were impressed with ourselves.

The next day we headed into New York with my brother. I was really excited because neither John nor Ata had been to New York City before. The train from Burlington to New York City was about an hour, and was really easy to get from A to B. We got into Grand Central Station and headed towards Times Square, which was where our hotel was. Once we checked into our hotel our touring started. We figured we would do that bottom part of Manhattan first, then Friday do the top part. We did the memorial for the World Trade Center, Wall Street, Statue of Liberty, etc. It was really nice. We decided to go to the Empire State building late at night. We thought it would be cool to go up there at like midnight to see New York. It was our best idea we had as there was no line, and we just basically walked right up. It was absolutely gorgeous.

Friday moring we had to get up early b/c I had a surprise for John and Ata. I didn't tell them what I was doing for them other than we needed to leave the hotel at 8:30 in the morning and it was worth getting up early! Once we got close to the water, a helicopter really low to the ground passed us and John just looked at me like, "No way" I laughed and said YAY!! I surprised John and Ata with a helicopter ride over New York. It was soooo cool! They were both just so excited. I figured what better way to see the city then this way. That was another reason I wanted to do the Empire State building at night was because we were going to get to see the city the next morning during the day! I'll attached some pictures of the helicopter ride.

We spent the rest of the day touring. We rented bicycles and did a tour around Central Park. Central Park is absolutely gorgeous and huge!!! We just had a great time. Then Ata and I took John to the Train station to head home, and Ata and I could have 1 night to ourselves to do whatever we wanted. We found this amazing sushi place, and ice cream shop and just walked around and enjoyed our vacation.

We weren't in NY for very long, but it was a packed 2 days! We had so much fun, and it was good that John got to meet Ata before Ata was thrown into the whole family when we went to the beach. They got a long really well. I always said I thought John and Ata were a lot alike. I'm glad they enjoyed themselves though.

Sunday, July 13th

2008-07-13T03:32:00.000-07:00

YAY! So only 3 more days until I go on vacation! I can't wait. I'm really excited.

I've had a few bumps a long the way, but everything is starting to come into place. On Friday I was looking at my banking and credit card accounts online to make sure everything is in order for this trip. Well - I notice that my credit card is completely maxed out! I couldn't believe it. I called Capital One right away to find out what has been going on. There were no charges on my statement that looked funny but my available balance was $0. They said there were thousands of dollars pending from Walmart in Florida! UGH! I was so upset. The only way I can think someone got my information is through the internet. I hardly ever use my credit card, so I was extremely upset once I found this out. What makes it worse is I find this out a few days before I'm supposed to go on vacation! Needless to say, I was pretty stressed out on Friday. I could barely think at work from that point on. It was horrible. This is the 3rd time that has happened to me, and the second time with this credit card company!

Today Ata and I are getting everything together for the trip. We need to go and buy Kelsey a little present because I told her that we were bringing her something! She is so excited, so I can't not bring her something. I'm trying to bribe her so she will want to hang out with me the whole time. Figured these days that may be the only way since I hardly ever see her anymore.

For those of you that don't know the vacation plans. Ata and I are leaving Wednesday and heading to Philadelphia where my grandparents will pick us up. Thursday morning we are taking the train in to NY with my brother and staying there for a few days. Ata has never been to NYC, so he is really excited. I have a big surprise planned out for him and my brother as well, that I'm really excited about. I will share when we get back :) Then we leave NY and head to the beach in NJ where my grandparents rented us a beach house for the week. Its huge and has a place on the roof where we can grill out etc. I'm really looking forward to this. We used to go to this beach all the time when I was growing up until we moved to Georgia. Should be fun. Ata has met my parents and grandparents but not my brother and sister, so I'm really looking forward to that.

We are also planning to go to Atlantic City for a day or two as that is only 30 minutes from where we will be and we are all going to the Phillies vs. Braves game on Friday night! We have a fun filled two week planned and I'm really looking forward to it.

Oh and for those of you that didn't see my post before, my sister is pregnant again! Wahoo! She is 5 months right now, so when I come home for Thanksgiving she should have her new little one. wahoo!

New Kids on The Block!

2008-07-03T03:02:00.000-07:00

Im so jealous and feel left out!!!

I can't believe they are coming to Atlanta and not London. :(

Those of you that are going and leaving me (you know who you are) you better take LOTS of pictures!!!!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84Hu7F8HkGg

Tuesday, July 1st

2008-07-01T08:19:00.000-07:00

I know I know pictures are coming, I promise!!!

My parents bought me a new camera on Saturday, so when I see them in a few weeks, I will have a camera. My computer is also broken at home, so that has also prevented me from uploading. I brought it to my work today, since I pretty much work for an IT company and they were able to figure out what was wrong with it. We had to order a new bulb for the screen because it blew! My computer is only 2 years old!!!! Hopefully when it comes in, I'll be good to go. You should see my laptop though. Its in pieces here at work. Kind of funny! I just get so amazed at IT people because I know absolutely nothing about computers and just have a blank stare when trying to figure them out.

I had a great weekend. The weather was gorgeous ALL weekend long. Its even warm today as well. FINALLY, maybe we'll have a little bit of a summer.

Saturday was Ata's sisters 13th birthday. It was also the first time I met his entire family, which was a really big deal. We went paintballing and had a blast. We played from about 9 -3pm then I went back to their house, watched some of Wimbledon and had dinner. His family was very sweet and welcoming. His sister took lots of pictures so as soon as Ata sends them to me, I can post them. I got hit in the mouth and paint splattered everywhere. Funny picture!

Sunday was another gorgeous day. Ata finishes with his Masters on Thursday, so we spent most of the day trying to finish up his paper. I'm so ready for him to be done!!! :) haha... I feel like I'm more ready than he is. Even though we did that, we went to the park and walked around and enjoyed the weather. We haven't really been able to hang out a lot lately so it was really nice to have some bonding time and the house to ourselves without all my flatmates being around.

2 weeks from tomorrow is our vacation! wahoo!! I can't wait.

Friday, June 27th

2008-06-27T09:44:00.000-07:00

This week has been a loooong week! I feel really tired and run down. I'm taking it easy tonight because tomorrow I've got a long day of paintball! I love playing paintball! I haven't played in a really long time, so I'm probably going to get killed. All I remember is that it really hurts when you get hit.

My flatmates went to this big music festival called Glastonbury. I decided back in January when they got tickets that I just couldn't do stuff like that anymore. I hate big festivals with a bunch of drunk people running around, no showers, camping, etc Just doesn't sound fun anymore. After spending St. Patrick's Day in Ireland last year, I realized my years of crazy partying like that are over. Now don't get me wrong, I still like to go out and have a good time, but there is a difference between going out and those kinds of events. Anyway, so I have the whole 4 story house to myself this weekend and very much looking forward to it.

Monday, June 23rd

2008-06-23T00:48:00.000-07:00

Well hello there!

Things have been CRAZY busy the past week. As most of you know, my one flatmate Lindsay is moving to Australia in August. Emma and I have been on the hunt trying to get another person to move into her room the day she moves out. We posted an add on moveflats.com with pictures and a description of our house and what we are looking for in a flatmate. We have had numerous girls reply and come view the house. Its really intimidating the way we choose the flatmate. I remember when I was trying to find a place to live and Lindsay and Emma did this to me. Its basically like an interview for the room. They come over and then we make them sit in the living room with us for about an hour while we grill them with questions about their life and interests etc. They told me that they had over 20 girls come and view the house when the selected me!!! (I know, I'm special) Anyhow, after much searching we found a girl that we think will be perfect. Her name is Emma as well! So now it will be Emma, Emma and Alissa in our house. I believe Aug 7th is when Lindsay moves, so that same day Emma will move into that room of the house. I'm really excited about the new Emma moving in. She seems to have more in common with me, which will be nice.

I will post some pictures of the house later today hopefully. I broke my camera when I went to Scotland with my family, so I have been using Ata's until I get my new one in July.

Wimbledon!!!

2008-06-10T13:42:00.000-07:00

Ata is still getting his Master's since he is working full time and going to school part-time. He finishes the last weekend in June, so we were just talking about what we could do when he turns in his last paper! We are going on vacation about 2 weeks after he finishes, so it needed to be something local. After much discussion, we decided to try and get tickets to Wimbledon! I know most of you probably think its impossible for us to get tickets this late, but trust me, Ata can get tickets to pretty much anything. Im so excited!!!

Monday, June 9th 2008

2008-06-09T01:32:00.001-07:00

Nothing exciting since my last post.

Let's see, I worked until about 9:30 on Thursday night and pretty late again on Friday. All the projects I have been working on since I started my job last September are finally coming up and in the process of completion. The projects completion will take 3 months, so the first stage had to be completed by first thing this morning. I was in over the weekend for a bit as well tieing up some loose ends.

Ata decided to go play tennis on Saturday morning until I finished working. For those of you that do not know, Ata is amazing at Tennis. He has travelled all over the world playing tennis when he was a teenager. Anyhow, he played for about an hour when he heard a crack and his ankle blew up the size of a baseball. He went to the hospital yesterday and has torn some ligaments in his foot. They said they can't really do anything for this, so rest it. Those are the English doctors famous words. Rest and drink water! Thats all they say about EVERYTHING! Its horrible and a waste of time to even go. I could be a doctor over here.

Saturday night Ata and I went to a really nice Japanese restaurant. He has never had Saki before, so we figured with the pain his foot was in, a little alcohol might help him sleep :) I ordered us warm Saki (because it tastes better than cold). It was really strong! The only time I have had Saki we drank it like a shot. We finished the large bottle in about 10 minutes. The waiter came over and started laughing at us. He said "You finished this very quickly". Ata said "How are we supposed to drink it?" The waiter then said " It is not Vodka". haha...OOPS! Ata gave me this look like I'm some sort of a wild child. It was so funny!! We had to order another to sip the way you are supposed to drink it since we finished the first bottle so quickly. It was hilarious.

Sunday was a gorgeous day. Finally! I hope it stays like that for awhile, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

Only 37 days left until our vacation. wahoo!

Thursday, June 5th 2008

2008-06-05T16:23:00.001-07:00

I just realised I wrote the most depressing blog and then sent out an email to everyone letting you guys know that I'm starting to update it regularly.

Sorry for that. I really am enjoying my life in England. I have a wonderful boyfriend who I love dearly. I live in a beautiful 4 story Victorian house with a bathroom the size of a bedroom! Its goreous. I love my job and everything about it. I have made some great friends and found a wonderful church. I do not get to do as much travelling as I would like, but I still get around more than the average person.

Hopefully that sounds a little better than the last message. The last message was just a vent.

Wesnesday, June 5th 2008

2008-06-05T15:33:00.000-07:00

Today was a rough day for some reason. Maybe because I have been working 13 hour days all week, or because it was finally a nice day in England and I spent it in an office. I don't know, but from the second I woke up this morning I felt sad. I try to focus on all the good things in my life God has blessed me with and still feel sad. I hate that because I have so much to be happy about.

So I get into work early to try and finish all these projects I am working on. The deadline is close of business Friday and its next to impossible for everything to get done, but I'm trying. We are allowed to listen to music (with headphones) at work. This was perfect for me because I absolutely love Q100 The Bert Show back home. Its so funny. I listen to it all the time. Since I am five hours ahead, I can listen at 10:30 my time when the show starts and go all the way to the end which is 3 my time. Well today the audio on the streamline wasn't working. Being that I have an amazing cell phone plan to call back home I called the radio station to inform them of this. Granted I know it is 5:30am there and the last thing people want to hear when they first get into work is someone complaining that something isn't working, however I just wanted to inform them of this before a ton of people started calling in as the day went on. She had the nerve to ask me if my speakers were turned on! Then hung up on me! I couldn't believe it. I always get frustrated when the radio isn't working, but I never act like that to people. I was so angry I wrote an email to Jenn and Bert. hahaha... I'm sure they really care, but I couldn't believe I was calling to help them out and this rude person hung up. She could have at least said bye!

So I call my wonderful sister because she is really good about asking questions and complaining to them to get it all sorted. She has done it before, so I figured she would get it working for me. Needless to say, it started working.

Then I was starting to feel better because the Bert Show makes me laugh when my mom and sister made me sad again. For those of you that know me know I absolutely loved New Kids on The Block. I mean I was obsessed with them. They announced they were going to have a concert in Atlanta in Oct. The original plan was for me to come home and for us three to go like when we were younger. Well flights are super expensive and I'm already coming home for Thanksgiving and Christmas, so I figured spending $1,000 to see the New Kids on the Block was a bit ridiculous. Anyhow, so today my sister could get front row tickets for a decent price, so she copies me in on and email to my mother and they decide they are going to go without me!!!!!! Not that I don't want them to go and enjoy themselves, but I want to be a part of it. I hate feeling left out of family stuff. :(

Then I get home from work and I'm talking to my mom and she is trying to make me feel better about being sad. She informs me that my brother was going to my parents house for dinner then they were all going up to Adrien's to watch Kelsey swim! I said, way to make me feel better. I feel left out again!!! I know I sound like a baby, but I guess toda y is one of those days I'm feeling a little homesick. I think when it gets close to the time I'm about to see my family I get tired of being in London. I love my job and my wonderful boyfriend, but the city in general is not that great. For a visit, yes,but to live no.

Now its almost midnight and I'm not asleep yet. I have a twelve hour day tomorrow and I'm wide awake. I'm going to be super pleasant tomorrow. ok ok sorry for the bitter post. I just thought I'd share my mood with everyone.

Good night!!

Monday, May 19th 2008

2008-06-05T15:14:00.000-07:00

Today was a long day back at work after my fabulous weekend. This weekend Ata and I went to Geneva, Switzerland. We didn't really have a reason to go other than I get the itch to travel and without a second thought book us a trip! I think secretly Ata likes that I do it, even though he acts like he doesn't. He wants us to save money for our vacation in July. Anyhow, so we headed off to Geneva for the weekend and everything was perfect. From the time we left my place in the morning, jumped on the bus, caught the train to the airport and then flew there. There were no lines at the airport, we never had to wait for ages for a bus and the train was on time. It couldn't have gone any smoother.

Once we got to Geneva we checked into our hotel which was really nice. It was right on the Lake Geneva and about a 10 minute walk to the city centre. We like staying a little out of the city to have some piece and quiet, and going into the city when we want to be tourists.

We spent the entire day walking around enjoying the city. They make amazing chocolate there as well. We found this really nice Chocolate Cafe. We each got a piece of chocolate cake and I got hot chocolate and he got a coffee. It was absolutely delicious. We sat in there for awhile savoring each bite.

The weather wasn't perfect during the day, but living in London you come to expect rain wherever you go. It becomes normal to never look nice and to carry an umbrella. I feel like I'm forgetting something if I walk out of my house without one. Anyhow, we walked around in the gloomy weather and rain and had the best time.

Being the "old" people we are, we had to go back and take a nap before our evening out. After dinner we got all dressed up and went back to the city center for dinner. The weather cleared up and we had an amazing evening. We found this little local restaurant that was warm and cozy. It was perfect. After dinner we walked around a bit and then I decided it was best to go home. As most of you know Paris for New Years was an absolute nightmare for us. It was the worst experience ever. Well the nights in downtown Geneva looked like the later it got, the more Paris they got which scared me! Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Paris. One of my favorite places, however NEVER I mean NEVER go to Paris on New Years. Its a whole different eperience.

We didnt really get up to much in Geneva, just basically walked around and ate! (my favorite thing to do) It was really relaxing to get away from London for the weekend. It was much needed.

April 25th 2008

2008-06-03T09:20:00.001-07:00

I'm going to be an Aunt again! My sister just finished her first trimester. I'm so excited she is going to have another baby! wahoo!!

She says this time she isn't going to find out the sex of the baby, but we all know how hard that will be for Adrien! Lets see if she can hold out. I hope she does. Its more exciting! (I secretly want her to have another girl though)

She is due early November, which works out perfectly for me because I will be coming home this year for Thanksgiving. The baby will only be a few weeks old so I won't miss out totally on the whole newborn thing.

Monday, April 14th 2008

2008-06-03T08:45:00.000-07:00

YIKES!! Today was my ACII exam and I was a nervous wreck. I've studied for this exam every weekend since January. The CII stands for The Chartered Insurance Institute and the ACII is the Advanced Diploma in Insurance. Its a professional qualification in Insurance and Risk Management known globally. Because of my Bachelors and Masters Degree, I received exemptions from 9 out of 10, so only 1 more exam to go, which was today.

Most of you know how sick I make myself before an exam, so I did everything I could to stay calm. I test so much better when I'm calm (surprise surprise). I think it went ok. There were 8 short answer questions, 1 Essay question and 3 small essay questions. It took 2.5 hours.

I do not get my results until June 13th, but hopefully everything went well!

Sunday, March 9th 2008

2008-05-31T16:14:00.000-07:00

Pictures from our weekend in Edinburgh. The weather was absolutely freezing! The wind was blowing so hard I thought I was going to freeze to death. It was raining the majority of the time as well, but I guess that isn't a huge surprise since it is Scotland. It was great to spend some time with my Grandparents and parents. I miss them both sooo much. I appreciate my family so much more than I could ever realize.

Tuesday, March 4th 2008

2008-05-31T15:50:00.000-07:00

Today was graduation. It was an amazing day! My parents and grandparents are here to celebrate with me along with Ata. The ceremony was held at a Cathedral near London Bridge. The ceremony only took an hour, which was really nice. It was also the first time my dad met Ata, which was a big deal.

It was really nice to see all the people I had graduated with as well. Everyone moved back to their home countries after we finished with our classes, so this was the first time since October that I had seen a lot of them.

After graduation Ata and I took my family to a nice Italian restaurant near Covent Garden. We love that area of London even though it is a bit touristy. Tomorrow we are headed to Edinburgh for the weekend. I'm really excited!!! I haven't been to Scotland since I went like 3 years ago, and noone in my family has been. It should be a nice trip.

Wednesday, December 5th

2007-12-05T05:57:00.000-08:00

Hello Hello!! I'm sorry everyone for not updating this recently! As most of you know the stress is back on for me! As soon as I was finally getting settled in my cozy, beautiful house, I get an email from the landlord saying she is going to sell so we need to start looking for a new place to live. I hadn't even been living there for two months. I do have a contract that allows me to stay there for 6 months without me or the landlord able to break, but we will see if that stays in affect. My two room mates and I have started looking for another 3 bedroom house in the same area. With the housing market right now we are having some troubles, but I know the right place will come along. It just makes things stressful again having to hunt for a decent place to live for a decent price. There are just so many absolutely horrible places out there for SOOO expensive.

My job is great. I absolutley love it. The people are wonderful and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to work at this company. Everyone is young and ambitious so we have a 'work hard play hard' attitude. Its great though.

Ata and I have now been together for 5 months! I know, its hard to believe I have a boyfriend but he is great and puts up with all my stress. Hopefully things continue to go well for us.

I'm coming home around the 21st of December and I can't wait to see everyone! I miss home. The weather here is of course cold and rainy. There wasn't a summer here at all this year, so its been a bit depressing. I'm going to be better about writing on this again. This month is busy with lots of Christmas parties etc.

Monday, 8th October

2007-10-08T12:10:00.000-07:00

Well, today was the start of week 3 at my job. Everything is going really well. My hours are pretty long but surprisingly the day goes by really fast. The job is really interesting and I have so much to learn. I already have a decent amount of responsibility and things that I'm heavily involved in which makes me feel good. I think if I work really hard this job will really be good for me.

I am officially settled into my flat! It has taken me an entire week to finally get settled. I just couldn't be bothered to unpack everything last weekend, but this weekend I did everything. I'll take pictures sometime this week and post them. My flat is absolutely gorgeous. Its so homey! We even have a heated towel rack for the bathroom! That excites me because its really cold here, so its nice to put your towel on that and have it all warm and snuggly for after I get out of the shower.

I booked my flight home! YAY!!!!! I'm coming home Friday, December 21st and will stay until the 29th! Also, there is a good possibility I'm going skiing this year. Some friends of mine are planning a ski trip this February, and I'm pretty sure it will work out that I can go. I hope that all works out. Since I didn't get a chance to go skiing last year, I really wanted to get somehting in this year.

Since I finally got everything settled in my new place and have wireless and everything hooked up, I will be updating this again regularly. Hope everyone is doing well!!!!! I miss you all.

Random pictures from the past few months!!!!

2007-09-19T11:47:00.000-07:00

The End of the Year Party at Zoo Bar :)

Wimbledon 2007

The front of Wimbledon

My 4 day visit home

Me and Kelsey about to go swimming

Me and one of my best friends here Laura

The Red Bull AirRace show over the River

The planes had to do tricks and go through the cones. It was awesome!!! They were going like 200 mph and within like 10 feet of the water. Of course the American guy won!! wahoooooooo

Ata and I at the AirRace Show

September 19th cont...

2007-09-19T11:38:00.000-07:00

So now as most of you know I am staying in freezing cold England for another year or two. I received a job doing project management for Financial Services and Insurance. I'm really excited. Its going to be very challenging as well as a great learning experience. I finally found a flat to live in. Its gorgeous. I will be living with 2 other English girls. One is 24 and the other is 26, so Im right in the middle. I think my personality is in the middle as well. The one girl is super girly and the other is a very much into outdoor sports and bugs, etc. I think Im a little of both. It was such a long process going trying to find a flat. I went EVERYWHERE in London. I mean I looked at over 20 properties and this one was by far my favorite, so Im glad everything worked out. I move in September 29th (John's Birthday). Right now Im moving every weekend into different accomodations that I can afford. Its been an absolute nightmare. Good thing I am seeing someone that is English so he has a car here. If it wasn't for him I would be carting my stuff with me on the tube and bus every weekend. I didnt think I had that much stuff, but I filled an entire car. Its just been crazy this past month. I'm broke, and living in a nunery. Today was my last day at Marsh. I was so sad! I was surprised at how emotional I got leaving there. I mean of course I didnt cry, but I wanted to. They have been so good to me, and have really been supportive throughout this entire year. It was a great experience. I couldn't have asked for anything more! I start my new job on Monday, so back to full-time employment. Im not looking forward to that, but I am looking forward to starting my career again. Everything is falling into place perfectly. I mean of course I have been struggling here and there, but the most important things are handled. God has truly blessed me with these opportunties. I have made such wonderful friends, I have a great job, and I get to stay in London!! Even though I miss my friends and family, working overseas for a year or two is still an opportunity of a lifetime and Im going to take every advantage that I can.

I hope everyone is doing well!!! Email me if you'd like! I'd like to hear whats going on with everyone.

Pictures of Cyprus

2007-09-19T11:19:00.001-07:00

Elena, Me, Marina and Marilia (all were in my class)

Marilia's friend getting married

The priest doing communion

Her getting ready. It was so neat!!!

Hanging out at the bar. Marina, Me, and Elena

The view froma cafe on the road!

Us girls before we went out (Danae, Me, Marina and Marilia) The 4 of us were inseperable throughout the year. The 3 of them are all from Nicosia, Cyprus.

The cutest church on top of a cliff

One of the many beaches!

Wednesday, September 19th

2007-09-19T11:12:00.000-07:00

Hello Hello, I am so sorry I have no updated my blog in forever. Lets see since July 6th, there has been SOOOOO much that has happened to me. First Im going to talk about Cyprus and put up some pictures. Cyprus was absolutely amazing. I got there on a Sunday and Marilias parents go us an apartment on the beach for 1 week. So Marilia, her cousin and two other Cypriot girls from my class stayed at the apartment with us. It was just beautiful. So clean, the people were friendly and a very crazy nightlife. Then the 2nd week we went into Nicosia where Marilia is from. Its about 45 minutes from the beach in the middle of the country. We stayed with her parents. I also go to experience a traditional Cypriot wedding. There were over 2,000 people there! I have never seen such a big wedding. It was almost like you see in the movie. They do break plates, and they saw OPA, haha.. It was beautiful and a great experience. Marilia and I traveled all over Cyprus and saw ruins, went to the beaches, so the green line where the Turks came and took over. All we did was eat eat eat though. If you say no Cypriots get offended and think you didnt like something, so I ate more food in one week than I did the entire year. We had an such big dinner, then we had fruit, then we had dessert. It was like a 3 hour dinner! It was delicious. They sure know how to cook. It was a great trip!

Friday, July 6th

2007-07-06T05:57:00.000-07:00

Hello Hello!!!

I just wanted to let everyone know in case they couldn't tell already that I am completely done with my degree!!! YAY!!!! I'm so excited. I can't believe I am done with everything. I took my last exam last Thursday, and of course we all went out to celebrate. There was a huge party on Friday night, then we of course went to Rome on Saturday. Im spending the next two days saying good-bye to everyone these next couple days. While I am away in Cyprus a lot of the people are going home permanently. Not many people want to stay in London. The weather is too crappy! Its going to be really sad when I come back to Cyprus and everyone be gone!

I leave for Cyprus on Sunday and I stay until the 23rd of July! I'm so excited. Its 45 degrees there. Thats like 115 fahrenheit. I dont think I've ever been in weather that hot. Im staying with my best friend here Marilia and her family for the 2nd week. The first week her parents got me, Marilia, Danae and Marina. The other 2 Cypriot girls in our class that we hang out with all the time an apartment on the beach for a week! Its going to be so much fun. I can't wait. Its like 60 degrees here in London right now. I swear I dont think they ever have summer. Its depressing. We were sweating in Rome, and then we come back and I'm wearing a sweatshirt. Its windy and rainy and cold. Absolutely miserable. Anyhow, just wanted to update everyone. Will write about my trip when I get back, or if I have internet access, maybe I will be able to update from Cyprus!! Hope everyone is doing well. I miss everyone!!!

Pictures of Rome!!!

2007-07-06T05:40:00.000-07:00

Marilia and I at the Parthenon

Eating lunch!!

Betsy and I drinking on the 'steps'

St. Peter's Square

St. Peter's Square, from the Basilica

Sistine Chapel

The Vatican Entrance

Wine with dinner!!

Inside the Colosseum

The Colosseum

The 3 of us!! (Betsy, Me, Marilia)

Wednesday, July 4th

2007-07-06T05:31:00.001-07:00

Happy 4th of July!!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful fourth!! I just got back from Rome today with Betsy and Marilia. We had a great time. Rome was amazing, however it was a lot dirtier than I thought it would be. It was also VERY touristy. I mean, everywhere I turned there were Americans. We were only there for 4 days, so we did all the touristy stuff. The pickpocketers were also horrible. I actually saw a bunch in action. We went out to dinner a lot in this one area. At night we would take the bus back to our hotel. While we were waiting for the bus I was staring at this girl because she was so skinny and pregnant. I kept thinking to myself I hope I look like her when I get pregnant. I kept watching her for some reason because I was so fascinated. Well, as everyone was gathering together because the bus was in sight, I saw her go up behind a bunch of men and start staring at their pockets. I was like...what!! Betsy and Marilia were both watching as well. We were like, no way. As soon as the bus arrived everyone was pushing and shoving to get on. We stayed back because we were skeptical of this girl, and as soon as everyone started pushing, her and 3 of her friends were all in the pockets of the men. I couldnt believe my eyes. Betsy screams 'look at them, they are all in their pockets'. Of course I thought we were going to die because the girls were looking right at us. We had made a little scene, but it was REALLY bad. I mean there were 4 of them working together. Apparently that same girl the night before had her hand on Betsy's bag and Betsy had said something to her, but Betsy didnt think anything of it because she was really pregnant. The next night when we saw her at the same bus stop we were all watching her closely. It seems like that was their area to target. It was horrible. We really did have a nice time though. The food was great and of course the men were absolutely gorgeous as well :)

I'll post some pictures tomorrow!!!

Wednesday, June 26th

2007-06-27T15:50:00.000-07:00

YAY!! So I have two exams down and one more to go!! I'm so excited and anxious to be done I can hardly contain myself. My first exam was on Tuesday and I think it went really well. Probably one of my best exams that I've had this year. Then I had my second one today. I also think I did fine on that one. This teacher I have a hard time judging how he will grade my exam, however I dont think I did poorly. Tomorrow is the hardest of all 3 and Im a little nervous. Its really hard to study for another exam right when you walk out of the door from taking one. My poor brain is just exhausted. I came home and have been working on my last research paper EVER!!!! I just finished it and now Im going to study for a few hours before I go to bed. Tomorrow at 6:15 I will be the happiest girl alive because I will be completely finished with my MASTERS DEGREE!!!! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think I might cry Im so happy. Oh and I dont know what possessed me to ever go back to school, because I absolutely hate it. The stress and anxiety it brings. Its just awful.

Betsy comes on Friday morning!!! She will be able to go to the biggest party of the year. On Friday everyone will be done so we have a whole downstairs of a club reserved. There are over 75 people on the guest list. It will be great to party with people one last time. Alot of my classmates are going home two weeks from today, so after this Friday I will never see them again. It makes me really sad. At least I know people all around the world and have plenty of places to stay for vacation. Thats the positive side to it!!! They all know that I will be taking advantage of the travelling the second I get some money and time. ok, back to studying. Everyone wish me luck as I go into this last exam tomorrow. YYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!

Monday, June 25th

2007-06-25T12:41:00.000-07:00

Today I got my grades back for the exams that I took in April and YAY, I passed everything and did very well!!!! Accounting was actually my highest grade, can you believe it!! haha....
Im so happy that I did well, I was really nervous about these results, but now it just makes me more confident going into the 3 exams that I have tomorrow, Wed and Thursday. Wish me luck!!!!

Saturday, June 23rd

2007-06-23T12:01:00.000-07:00

So today the weather is crap, as usual. It raining so hard, and its so windy, its like we are in a hurricane. They said it was supposed to be like this all week and cold!!! :( I'm just so depressed about this summer weather.

This week are my last 3 exams. YAHOOOOO!!! I have one on Tues, Wed and Thursday and then I'm done. I still have to work on a research paper, but I'm hoping to be done with that by Friday before Betsy gets here.

Last night our school through us an end of the year party. It was at a really nice pub on the Thames River. It was very nice. They gave us dinner and free drinks all night long. Lots of people were there. Most of the other students are finished because their exams were this week. For some reason our course is the only one that has exams this week, so we are REALLY celebrating this Friday! I can't wait. Then I head off to Italy.

OH and I get my exam results back on Monday from last term. I'm really nervous as I dont think I did as well on these as I did in the first term. Oh well. I guess we shall wait and see!!!

2007-06-17T09:21:00.000-07:00

I just made the best dinner!!!! I'm sure none of you really care, but I'm really excited. It was absolutely delicious. I'm becoming quite the cook over here.

Sunday, June 17th

2007-06-17T02:42:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day!!!

Hope the weather is treating everyone well back in the States. Unfortunately its still not warm here. Some days are better than others. Yesterday, I was wearing a long sleeve shirt! Today it actually looks like it may be a nice day, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

As most of you know, my classes have ended!! YAY!! I can't believe that in 2 weeks, I will be completely done with my Masters Degree. I thought my courses ended in September, but they end the last week in June! I'm so excited because now I can spend my entire summer just traveling and relaxing and of course trying to find a job. I had a little set back on Friday concerning my Visa, but it just means I'm going to have to work harder to stay here once my Visa expires. I am still working for Marsh part-time and will continue to do what I'm doing until my contract is up with them Oct 2nd. If I have not found a job by then, or haven't gotten my Visa squared away then I will be coming home. If I have found something, then I'm going to stay here for at least another year. I can't imagine staying too much longer than one more year, but to continue to get the London market experience is good for me. This week is my last week of work before I take an entire month off for my exams and then to travel. I'm going to Italy for a week and then Cyprus for 2 weeks! I can't wait. I was trying to find a way to stop off in Greece since I will already be in Cyprus, but I cant take anymore time off of work than I already am. Once I get back to London, I'm going to spend some time traveling England. I really want to go up to New Castle and Yorkshire! I heard those two places in the summer are amazing! I'd also like to hit the coast. There is so much I still want to see, so Im going to be really busy touring around my last 2 months. If I have to come home in October then I want to be able to say that I traveled as much as I could while I was over here.

Right now I'm finishing up all my research papers so I can spend this entire week studying for my 3 exams that I have left!!! YAY!! Next Tues, Wed, and Thursday are my exams and then comes a massive party!

2007-06-10T09:34:00.000-07:00

Leslie and I with the Snake!!

The Snake Charmer in Morocco

Tangiers, Africa

My first Camel Ride!!

Seville, Spain

Alhambra in Granada, Spain

The Group

The Beach!!!

Our first night in Malaga, Spain

Being silly in the trees!

The Cathedral in Madrid, Spain

Inside the Alhambra in Granada

Granda, Spain (in the distance were the Sierra Nevada Mountains)

Climbing through the Alhambra

Before the Bull fight in Madrid

Drinking in Plaza Mayor before the bullfight (figured I needed as much beer as possible before I saw this )

Bull Fight!!!

Sunday, June 10th

2007-06-10T09:24:00.000-07:00

Spain was amazing!!! As most of you know, Leslie came to visit two Fridays ago. The two of us went to Madrid for 2 days, then headed down to Malaga to meet up with our friend LeeAnn for 10 days!! It was the best vacation. It was just what I needed. I think I was really stressed and couldn't ever really relax because something was always going on, but this was exactly what I needed. Now I have 3 weeks left of my Masters Degree and then Im finished! I have so much going on the next 3 weeks, that the vacation has helped me to relax and know that I can do it!!!! Anyhow, on my vacation, Leslie and I saw a bullfight in Madrid. The first one was terrible but then I got used to it. After Madrid we went to Malaga, which is the south of Spain. We went to the beach for only 2 days because we wanted to travel all around. We went to Granada where we went to the Alhambra. Its up for being voted as one of the 7 wonders of the world!! Then we went to Seville, Gilbralter, and then we went to Morocco!! I couldnt believe laying on the beach in Malaga that we could see Africa, it was so cool!! In Morocco we rode camels and also saw a snake charmer! Definitely interesting!! The three of us had a great time!!! Now Im back to my normal routine of classes and work. This week is my last week of classes for my degree!! YAY!! Can you believe Im already done! I Cant!!!! It has gone by so fast! Then I have a week off and then all my exams. After Im done with exams my friend Betsy is coming and we are going to Italy!! Then Im headed to Cyprus for 2 weeks with my best friend here Marilia. I'm really looking forward to going to Cyprus. I've heard it was absolutely gorgeous. Anyhow, Talk soon!

Thursday, May 24th

2007-05-24T14:35:00.000-07:00

So Milan won the FA cup last night against Liverpool! Everyone here was just devistated that liverpool lost. I've never seen so many people into an event like this one. It was kind of cool.

Tomorrow Leslie will be here. I'm so excited!! I feel like I havent seen anyone from back home in awhile. The last people to come were my parents and that was in April. So its been almost 2 months since I've had any visitors! We leave for Spain on Saturday for 10 days and I can't wait. Its been really cold here for the past month, so I cant wait to get some sun. The past two days its been nice and I haven't worn a jacket, so hopefully it stays like this.

I know, Im not writing anything all that exciting! Sorry :) Im finally starting to have a life again since classes have calmed down for a bit. The end of June is going to be so horrible, that Im trying to live it up now, so when that time comes I'll be ready to focus and study.

Wednesday, May 16th

2007-05-16T03:06:00.000-07:00

UGH!! I got my hair chopped off!! :( How depressing. I finally decided to bite the bullet and get my hair cut in London as I haven't gotten it cut since December and it was looking a bit rough. He did a great job, but I want to grow my hair long!! He said that my hair was in awful condition (haha) I guess I knew that already, but still. All he did was cut off the dead ends, and now my hair is really short! oh well. It looks nice. It cost me 42 pounds as well!!! That was the cheapest I could find. Can you believe it?!?! I spent a mini fortune just to get my ends cut.

This week has been great so far. I had a horrible weekend where I just lived and breathed schoolwork, but since everything was due on Monday, I have a few weeks now where I can actually have a bit of a life before it gets really crazy again. This term are my electives, so Im really interested in all my classes. They are really tough, and I'm going to be very stressed and busy at the end of the term, but at least I get to learn what I want :) I'm also starting to really look for a job. I have no idea if I will find one here or not,but I'm going to try my hardest. I've been recommended some really good recruitment agencies, so hopefully I will find something. If not, then my flight is scheduled to come home on September 2nd!!! I'm being very picky in my job selection over here as I dont just want to take anything. I miss my friends and family so I want it to be the perfect job if I am going to continue to live over here for another 2 years.

This weekend there are lots of parties, etc. I guess to celebrate the new term and the last term FINALLY being done. I'm looking forward to actually having some fun for a change! Leslie is coming next weekend and we are headed off on our 10 day excursion around Spain. I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!! Its really cold here (still) so I can't wait to actually go to the beach.

Friday, May 11th

2007-05-11T14:23:00.000-07:00

Today is Friday and I think I'm going slightly crazy :) Everytime I think that I'm getting closer to catching a break with all this schoolwork, they pile some more on. The first term I didn't think was that difficult and thought it would be easy for me to manage everything that I had going on. Boy, was I wrong!!!!! I have been doing research papers everyday for the past 3 days and I'm going to be up all weekend working on 2 that I have due on Monday! I hate school! I just finished with exams last week and classes started this week and I have 2 research papers due Monday! I'm thinking after Monday I may have a week to relax a little, but I dont want to get my hopes up.

Lets see Wednesday I was so tired when I woke up to go to work, that I showered and plugged in my iron to iron my skirt and went back to sleep. Well, being the clumsy person that I am I rolled out of bed, tripped over the iron and stepped right on the hot metal part with my foot. Needless to say I have a few blisters on the bottom of my foot now. It REALLY hurts. Not as bad as when I drank that scolding hot water, but it hurts pretty bad. At least its in the arch of my foot so I dont really put a whole lot of pressure on it.

Yesterday my friend Betsy and I confirmed our trip to Italy! Its going to be a girls trip as a few of my girlfriends here want to go as well. We are going to Italy for a week, then I'm going to Cyprus for 2 weeks. There is a possibility that I'll be going to Scandanavia as well the end of July early August. I'm really looking forward to all traveling I will be doing once I finish classes. ok, back to writing my paper!!!!

Monday, May 7th

2007-05-07T04:11:00.000-07:00

Today is a bank holiday over here, so we don't have classes or work! YAY!! Its nice to have an extra day to myself before all the craziness begins again. As most of you know, John left last Wednesday. It was so sad!! Saturday was his graduation ceremony. I was really upset that I couldn't be there, but the family took lots of pictures!! I can't believe John graduated! haha....

I finished with exams last Thursday as well. The exams this term were not as difficult as last term, but I dont think I did as well. Who knows. Im just ready for all this to be done. I'm so sick of studying all the time and being so busy with work. I only have 7 more weeks and then I'm basically finished. I can't wait. Then I'm going traveling. My best friends from my classes are from Cyprus, (the girls in the picture)! So, Im going to go to Cyrpus with them for 2 weeks in July. We are also going to go to Athens and the Greek Islands for a week, just so I can see those. Betsy is thinking about coming as well and we are going to do the whole Rome, Florence trip. I think it just depends on timing. She has a lot going on at work in July and I have a lot going on in June with school, so we shall see.

Anyhow, now Im back to working on two research papers that are due next week! I had a great weekend of fun, resting and hanging out with friends. It was much needed.

Monday, April 30th

2007-04-30T05:35:00.000-07:00

I love Paris!! John and I had the best weekend. Even though we only went for 2 days, it was a great two days. We had great weather, and it was just what I needed to relax and have a little fun before I studied for my last exam! Our hotel was only 500 meters from the Eiffel Tower, which was great. When the Eiffel Tower twinkles at night for 10 minutes every hour, it makes me fall in love with that City over and over. I know I sound silly, but I just don't think you understand how romantic and beautiful it is. We got into Paris at noon on Saturday and we walked everywhere. My poor little feet hurt so bad! We stopped and had lunch on Champs Elysees. We just had sandwiches and a pint of beer and our bill was 60 euros!!! Thats right! I guess I didn't realize it last year when I went, but Paris is outrageously expensive! We almost choked when we saw our bill. Later that evening we walked all over Paris to see the night views of everything and then went to hit up some bars. It was 20 euros for 1 pint of beer! The average was 18 -22!! If you dont know the conversion, 18 Euros is about $24.50! So, can you imagine paying $25 for 1 beer! RIDICULOUS!! haha...it was so funny. We took so many pictures of us drinking our beers because it was the most expensive beer we have ever drank, so we figured we would capture the moment in a picture.

My parents got me an IPOD for my birthday (I know, Im the last person to get one) and they gave it to me about 3 weeks ago when they were here. Well, I lost it already! I let John use it on the plane, and I guess I just forgot to put it back in my bag because when I went to pull it out for us to listen to while we waited in the 3 hour line to go up to the top of the Eiffel Tower, I only had the headset! :( I was sad. I have only had that thing for 3 weeks! Earlier that morning I was closing my suitcase to leave it at the hotel front desk because we needed to check out, well the zipper broke. My parents told me it looked like my suitcase was about to break when we were coming back from Berlin, but I had no idea what they were talking about. So it broke! Of course on Sundays in Europe nothing is open, so we had to hunt all over just to find me a little bag or something that I could put my stuff in. I've only had this luggage for alittle over a year. I got a brand new 7 piece luggage set for Christmas before I came over here. I have no idea what I do to my luggage to break it soon quickly!

So now Im back to just studying! I have my accounting exam on Thursday, and for those of you that know me know that accounting and I just don't get a long!! :) Hopefully since I've taken the class like 50 times, I will do well. John leaves in 3 days. He loved Paris, and I believe it was one of his favorite places that he has been since he was over here. He is right now at Wimbledon. He went there for the day because he has a friend that works there, so he's getting in and everything. Plus he is staying here for the next 2 days and I need him out of my room so I can study!

Monday, April 23rd

2007-04-23T01:57:00.000-07:00

UGH.............. Today is my first exam! I've done really well about not stressing out, but today I'm a nervous wreck. I'm very confident in this first exam because I know I know the material. I just hate that my entire grade rests on this one exam! Tonight after I get home, my wonderful brother is going to have dinner cooked for me! That is another reason why I'm going to miss him when he leaves next week. He cooks for me all the time, and they are actually quite good meals. :) My next exam is Thursday, then I'm off to Paris. Wish me luck!!

Sunday, April 22nd

2007-04-22T01:49:00.000-07:00

As most of you know my parents came last week, and we headed to Berlin, Germany! It was absolutely amazing! Germany is probably one of my favorite countries. Its so beautiful, clean and lots to do and see. We walked ALL over, and I actually got some sun! The weather was perfect, probably around 75 degrees and sunny. Our hotel had a nice beer garden in the back. :)

Unfortunately now I'm back to studying. I have my first exam tomorrow and then another on Thursday. Since John is leaving next Wednesday we are going to Paris for the weekend!! I have another exam next Thursday but I figured instead of stressing about it all weekend, I would relax and go to Paris. Isn't that a good idea!! (I think so) I absolutely love Paris so hopefully John will enjoy himself as well.

Other than that, its the same old samd old stuff. Just work and school, work and school. After exams are over Im on my last term of classes. I am completely finished with everything the end of June, so I have the entire summer to travel and do whatever. I'm really looking forward to that. My lease doesn't end until September 2nd, so plenty of time to just do whatever. I'm also going to start looking for jobs as well. I've already had a few interviews and Marsh gave me an offer, but its not what I'm looking for! Who knows. Ideally I'm planning to stay in London for another year or two and get some international work experience. I am able to obtain a visa that can keep me here for 3-5 years, since I received my Master's over here. ok, back to studying!!!

2007-04-12T02:26:00.000-07:00

Oh and and just to talk about school. It stinks!! I hate studying! My classes for the second term are finished and I have exams again in 2 weeks. I'm not looking forward to it at all. I just keep telling myself I only have 1 more term then its over. UGH!!! Im ready to be done!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday, April 12th

2007-04-12T02:19:00.000-07:00

Good Morning!

Last weekend John and I went to a comedy show! I had never been to a comedy show before, so it was a lot of fun. We made reservations and when we got there, they had us sitting in the front row! You can only imagine how much fun they had with two Americans!! It was really funny. Exactly what I needed from the stressful weekend that I had.

Oh and my tv blew up! I know I know, how in the world does someone make their tv blow up! All the sudden it started smoking and sparks were flying. I didn't even notice because I was concentrating heavily on my research paper. John comes in and starts freakin out. Needless to say, I had to go and buy another tv!

My parents came into London yesterday! For my dads 50th birthday, we took my parents to see Blue Man Group! I loved it, and Im pretty sure they did also! It was definitely something different. They totally trashed the theatre. We had great seats, but just far enough away so we didn't get spit on, or wet.

Today we are off to Berlin. We will be there until Monday!! Will keep you posted on that!

Oh and YAY Leslie for booking another trip here!! She is coming the end of May before we do our tour all over Spain!! I definitely can't wait for that trip as well!!

Sunday, April 8th

2007-04-08T13:15:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!!!!

Today John and I went to St. Paul's Cathedral for our Easter Service. It was amazing!! Its such a beautiful church, and the choir echoed as they sung. The only thing that stunk about today is that John and I couldn't do our yearly Easter Egg hunt. I know I know, we are in our 20's, but we are so competitive with one another, that it makes it fun. Maybe next year! :)

3 more days until my parents come!! Can't wait!

Thursday, April 5th

2007-04-05T14:05:00.000-07:00

Today is my Dad's 50th birthday!!! Can you believe it! He's an old man :) haha.. Happy Birthday Dad!!

Today was an absolutely gorgeous day. I swear it must have been almost 70 and it wasn't windy or anything. It was 'perfect' weather. Everything is closed up this weekend for the Easter Holiday. We get Good Friday off as well as Monday. Im looking forward to getting lots of homework and studying done over these next few days. Im excited about catching up on some much needed sleep. Im exhausted, and can't seem to be able to revive myself.

Classes are done for this term FINALLY!! I have exams in 3 weeks. Again, Im nervous as always! I hate exams.

My parents are coming next week, and the 4 of us (mom, dad, John and me) are going to Berlin for 5 days. It will be really nice to get away from London for a few days and spend some time with the fam! I can't wait to see my parents. I think Im starting to get a little homesick. It seems like I always get a little homesick right before people come and visit. I guess because I'm constantly thinking about them being here, it makes me miss them even more.

John is still doing very well. He is thinking about going to grad school over here next year, so has been visiting schools. I can't believe his time here is almost over. He heads back to the States on May 2nd. I think I'm going to be crushed when he leaves as he has been my best friend for the past few months getting me through everything. I think I would have gone crazy if he wasn't here.

Leslie and I are finally finializing our plans for Spain. It looks like she is going to come here for a few days, then we are headed to Madrid for 2 days, then to Malaga and the coast of Spain for a week! I can't wait. It will be perfect. I absolutely love the beach, and can't wait to finally get some sun.

Oh and lastly I may be going to Athens for 4 days in early May as well. Just waiting for that to be confirmed. I love traveling!

Thursday, March 22nd

2007-03-22T13:25:00.000-07:00

So its been awhile since I updated this. This semester has been a lot more stressful and busy than last. Adrien and Tommy (my sister and brother-in-law) came last Wednesday and then 4 of my girlfriends came on Thursday. We left Thursday evening for Dublin, Ireland to spend a few days there for St. Patrick's Day. There were so many Americans in Ireland during this time you would think it was an American holiday. We had many bumps in the road the entire trip, but I think all in all everyone had a good time. After we got back from Ireland, I still had 2 days in England with my friends/family. It was really nice having them all here. They left yesterday and I miss them already!

Now that everyone is gone, Im trying to catch up on my research papers. I have 3 that are due next week and 1 due the week after. I had to cut back my hours at work because I just haven't really had a whole lot of time to get everything done. This is the most stressed I have been in awhile. I have also starting job hunting over here. I have decided that if the opportunity came for me to stay here in London I would for a year or two. I think having experience in the London market is a great opportunity and do not want to pass it up. At least they start off with like 25 vacation days. That gives me plenty of time to come home and visit family as well as travel around!

Oh and last thing, Im sick again! Can you believe it. I think I get sick here every month. Its awful. They never give out medicine so I feel like I am never fully recovered. The weather is still awful. It was really nice last week and now we are back to the freezing cold. Its miserable. I can't wait until it gets nice.

My parents are coming in 3 weeks and the 4 of us (me, John, mom and dad) are going to Berlin for 5 days. Its the perfect time for me to go because its right after my classes get done but a few weeks before my exams, so I know I will really enjoy myself. This weekend is a busy weekend. Tomorrow night Im going to see the Dog Races. I've never seen anything like that, so Im really looking forward to that. On Saturday, Chris has a suprise for me. I have absolutely no idea what he has planned but it will be nice to have a few hours at night to take my mind off schoolwork.

John is doing great as well. He is still working crazy long hours, but its good because he is saving some of his money. He is debating on whether or not he wants to go to grad school over here next year. He is using this time in London to figure out what he really wants to do with himself without any distractions or outside influences. Should be interesting whatever he decides. I hope that he comes back if I find a job here. Its really nice having family around. I'm going to miss him when he leaves May 2nd.

Sunday, March 11th

2007-03-11T04:11:00.000-07:00

Today is absolutely gorgeous!! Actually there have been a few days this week that have been really nice. I think its like 63 degrees and sunny! Yesterday I met John in Central London and we did a little shopping for St. Patrick's Day next weekend. I wanted to get a cute little green outfit. Then he showed me where he lives and his little 'area'. Its nice. We just walked around London and enjoyed the day.

Adrien and Tommy are coming this Wednesday and 4 of my friends are coming on Thursday. I can't wait!! I'm really looking forward to seeing them. There are 10 of us going to Ireland for the weekend. There are a few people that I'm close with from my courses going with us as well. Im ready for a short break! I haven't been out of the country in a month, I think I'm about due!

Oh I found out Friday that I get my exam grades back this week! Its about time! I'm really nervous. I hope I did ok. They also posted the exams for this term, and Im just not looking forward to them at all! I don't like school and all the stress that comes with it. They do things very different here, so I can never tell if I'm doing well or not.

Will let everyone know how I do on my exams as soon as I find out and of course I will let you know about Ireland!!

Saturday, March 3rd

2007-03-03T06:44:00.000-08:00

So Im actually able to get out of bed today!! Just to let everyone know my party last night was GREAT! There was a good turnout, and I think everyone had a lot of fun. I've never had so many people come and celebrate my birthday with me and actually make it all about me all night. It was nice! :) It was a great birthday!

Friday, March 2nd

2007-03-02T01:05:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to Me!!! :)

So today is my 25th birthday! Yikes, I can't believe I'm 25. Tonight is going to be a fun and crazy night! I have reserved an area at this club/bar in Central London called Tiger Tiger. I'm nervous about everything because surprisingly Im going to worry if everyone is having a good time all night instead of just enjoying myself. My flatmates and some friends are doing pizza and drinks here first, then we are headed to the club. I have 35 people on my guest list!!! Isn't that impressive. I'm impressed as I didn't think I'd have 5 people. John will of course be there as well. He has to work until 11, but then is coming straight there. Its going to be fun. Oh and I got this really nice card from all my flatmates and they said happy birthday and signed it in their own language. It was just really neat since everyone is from a different country!

Last night I went with some friends to Johns bar over by Buchingham Palace. He was really excited and surprised to see us. It was a slow night there so he was getting a bit bored. He had a 30 minute break during the time we were there, so he sat with us and ate his dinner! It makes me laugh that he is trying to save money, so he drank a glass of milk and had this horrible looking ham and cheese sandwich that he made at his hostel. I guess thats what he has got to do though if he wants to save money in this expensive country.

Classes are going ok. Everything is so much more intense and harder this term. Im getting nervous that Im not going to get done with all my research projects by the end of March. I even started everything early so I wouldn't be rushed or stressed, but of course, its less than a month before everything is due and I haven't even completed one whole project. UGH!!

So I will write tomorrow how my birthday went. Hopefully I will be feeling alright to get on the computer and type :)

Alissa

Sunday, February 25th

2007-02-25T15:02:00.000-08:00

Lets see...whats been going on. I have been doing lots and lots of schoolwork. Im trying to get done with all my papers before my friends come in 2 weeks so I can enjoy them when they are here. I went out this past Friday for the first time in forever. I never drink that much here as sometimes Im having to get home by myself and its a bit scary waiting for the buses at 3 in the morning alone. Needless to say, I got lost and of course it started to pour!! It was such a great night :(

I finally found a mexican restaurant here. Its taken me months to find it. So of course I went on Saturday night and spent a fortune because I couldn't decide what I wanted so I ordered everything! Maybe thats why Im having a hard time fitting into my pants! haha...

Delta was having a great deal on flights so my parents decided to come in April. Since they have already been to London, and John and I have seen enough of London, we are headed to Berlin! Im so excited about that. Its going to be a blast.

My 25th birthday is this Friday! YAY!!! I can't believe Im going to be 25! That sounds so old. I think Im going to have a 'get together' at my place and then a bunch of us are going out to celebrate. Should be a good time.

Alrighty so thats all I can think of for now. I know I know I lead such an interesting life.

Saturday, February 17th

2007-02-17T04:24:00.000-08:00

Good Morning! Well this week has been a great week! Well, kind of. I accidently drank boiling hot water and it scolded my entire mouth. Only I would get mixed up between a cold water bottle, and a mug full of boiling water! Anyhow, my mouth is blistering, my lips are blistering and I just started getting the feeling back in my tongue, and I did this last weekend! Im just glad my taste buds aren't permantely damaged!

Valentine's Day was great...kind of! haha.. I did get flowers and everything, but I guess things with me and boys are a bit messy right now. I know everything is going to work itself out and if its meant to be it will be, so Im just trying not to think about it!

I found out one of my final exam grades this past Thursday! I'm so excited, I did really well. I only needed 11 out of 30 to pass Finance, so I didnt think it would be too hard to get that. After I finished the exam I thought I probably got like 15 as I didn't know as much as I should have. Turns out I got a 28/30! YAY!! This means that I got a distinction in the class, which is like highest honors back home. I'm so excited. I was just hoping to pass and now I've got a distinction! wahoo!

ok well today is an absolutely gorgeous day in London. Two days in a row its been nice, I just didn't think it was possible to be nice in the Winter. I'm about to go for a long run outside!! I love running outside, and glad that today its not freezing and rainy!

Oh and one last thing. Only one more month until Adrien and my girlfriends come from back home!! We are headed to Ireland for St. Patrick's Day. AND.. I just found out Im going back to Spain in May for a week. My friend LeeAnn from Atlanta, me and Leslie are going to Malaga, its the southern coast of Spain for an entire week the end of May. I can't wait!! Sarah, Leslie and I are trying to get our Italy trip together. It looks like its going to be in July! Im ready for school to be over with so I can start travelling!

Thursday, February 8th

2007-02-08T12:12:00.000-08:00

It SNOWED!!! I had to work this morning, so when I got up at 6:30, I peeked out the window and the entire ground was covered with snow. It was still coming down pretty hard too. We don't really see it snow all that often anymore, so its always exciting when it happens. Since I have to walk almost a half mile to work, I was really excited that I could finally wear these cute boots I bought! I was all bundled up hiking to work in the snow. It was so much fun. It continued to snow until about 1 o'clock this afternoon! All the schools in England were cancelled so all the young kids were out building snowmen. During lunch my co-workers and I decided we were going to have fun too and had a big snowball fight. It was great! Now Im laying in bed not feeling very well :( I think its just a cold. Everyone seems to have one over here right now. So Im just laying in bed resting tonight.

Oh last night Mary Poppins was great!! I can't wait to go to my next one. We are already looking at the many choices! You can get them for pretty cheap, so hopefully we find one that we both want to go to! ok, thats about all I can think of for now. Its supposed to be really cold tonight and there is a possibility for more snow tomorrow!! YAY!!! Talk to you soon!

Wednesday, February 7th

2007-02-08T11:52:00.000-08:00

Barcelona was absolutely amazing!! We had a great time. The weather was a bit cold, but lots warmer than London. I definitely would like to go back, but in the summer so I can enjoy the beaches. My friend and I got there on Friday afternoon and spent the day walking up and down Las Ramblas. Its the main street in Barcelona. We went to a nice restaurant and got seafood paella! It was delicious! Saturday John met up with us. Im really glad that John came because I really didn't feel all that safe walking around without a guy. Men are super aggressive and I guess I'm just not used to that. Saturday, Sunday and half the day Monday we went everywhere!!! We walked and walked and walked. It was very easy to get around even though NOTHING was in english. Not many people spoke English there either, so John busted out his mad Spanish skills (ha!) Now we are just back in London doing the same old same old. Its really really cold here today and we are expected to get snow tonight!! They are saying a few inches on the ground tomorrow. I'm going to see Mary Poppins in the theatre tonight with a friend. This is the first time I've been to the theatre since I've been in London, so I'm really looking forward to it. I used to watch Mary Poppins all the time when I was little, so this was the perfect first play!

John is doing well also. He needed to go to Barcelona so when he came back to England he would be legal. He now has a work permit and visa to be here. He is getting his first paycheck this Friday and is really excited about that. He is broke!!! Now that he is getting paid, he won't be staying with me. We are both really relieved because as much as we love each others company,you just can't have two people living in this room.

Tuesday, January 30th

2007-01-30T08:26:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was a good weekend. John's friend Mallory was in town from Atlanta. She is going to be studying in Italy for the next 4 or 5 months, and came to London for a visit before she went. John has been staying with her at her hostel since last Thursday. Most of you know John, well John has been keeping his stuff here at my place. He wasn't planning on staying with M allory until Saturday, so everything of Johns was still here. John did not come here until Saturday to get his clothes, toothbrush, a towel, etc. I wondered what John used to clean himself. Mallory told me that John went and bought a roll of Bounty paper towels and has been drying off from the shower with that! Can you believe that. I guess nothing is all that suprising when it comes to my brother!!

Anyhow, off to the fun stuff. 4 of us got together and went to Stonehenge and Bath this past Sunday. It was freezing at Stonehenge, so good thing its not something you stand and stare at for hours. Our cab driver was really cool, and gave us a free tour of the little town. He showed us where Sting's house was and everything. It was pretty interesting. Then we headed to Bath on the train. We went and saw the Roman Baths and hot springs. This town was very old, 18th century old. Very beautiful. It was nice to get out of London for the day and see other parts of England. Im going to try and go somewhere like either once or twice a month, so I get to see lots more of England. I didn't get out as much as I would have liked last term, so this term, I'm going to prioritize my time better. Only 3 days until Barcelona!!!

Thursday, January 25th

2007-01-25T13:12:00.000-08:00

Barcelona here we come!! Today my friend Marilia, my brother and I booked a little trip to Barcelona next weekend. I'm so excited!! All the people in my class went last weekend and I couldn't go because I had to work. This morning, John and I were looking at flights and we found this trip for $30!!! Can you believe it. Ryanair was having a special for 1 pence each way. With tax and everything it was 15 pounds for the flight. I can't wait!! YAY!!!!!!!!!

Anyhow, John and I are both doing very well. John works all the time now, which is good b/c he has absolutely no money! Im pretty sure he has worked everyday this week, and the only day he has off is Sunday. It keeps him busy though and out of trouble :) A friend of his came into town today, so he is really excited about that. She is going to be in London for 8 days, so John is going to stay at the hostel with her for the next few days. Im thrilled about that so I actually can have my room to myself for a bit. 2 people in this little box that I live in is a bit much at times. ok, thats all I can think to say for now. Cheers!!

Sunday January 21st

2007-01-21T11:18:00.000-08:00

Good Afternoon!! I know I've been really bad about updating this lately. Sorry!! I will from now on be updating on a regular basis. I finished exams last Wednesday. They were hard, but I think I did well on all of them. I've never studied so much in my entire life. Last Thursday we had 70 mph winds here and everything shut down. I was at work looking out the window and one of the girls that I work with was holding onto a tree because she was getting blown away by the wind. It was crazy! I ended up getting stuck at work because there were no trains running in and out of London! My boss was really friendly and ended up putting me in a hotel for the evening. Good thing I was already done with exams because that would have been a mess if I was stuck somewhere and couldn't get into London to take my exams.

Oh and John is still here!!! He was supposed to leave forever ago, but he had a change of heart last minute and decided to stay. He stays with me in my little room 3 nights a week and then stays in a cheap hotel the other 4. He finally has a job!!! YAY!! He is starting to like it here, I think. I think he is starting to adjust to it raining everyday and it always being gloomy.

I also found this great website that allows me to watch EVERY tv show from back home that I am into. I was really excited when I learned about this site b/c now I can watch 24!! I absolutely love that show, and was upset that I wasn't going to be able to see this season.

I start classes back up tomorrow! :( My schedule is the exact same as last term, which stinks! I was hoping it would be a little different so I wasn't so tired early in the week. Oh well, at least I get Fridays completely off again. I hope everyone is doing well. If I think of anything else I will update again!!

Monday, January 8th

2007-01-08T14:26:00.000-08:00

Hello Hello!! Well today has been an interesting day. I went back to work after having a month off!! Even though I only worked a half day it felt weird being back to the everyday routine again. So my first final exam is tomorrow. I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO nervous. I didn't think I was going to do well on Saturday, but today, I feel much better. I've studied really hard, so hopefully I pass! After my exam I get to come home and study for the next one that I have on Thursday. YAY!! Prayers are greatly appreciated! :)

John is going back to Atlanta on Wednesday! :( Today was supposed to be the start of his first day of work, but they decided last minute that they wanted someone more permanent than John was willing to stay, so John left. He was thinking about staying in London a few more days to job search and if nothing happened then go home, but he realized his funds were getting low. London is just crazy expensive and if you don't have any kind of income, you can go through your money pretty quickly. He is going to live up the last few days here. Im sad that he is leaving!! It would have been nice if he got to stay and travel around with me some! Alrighty, well back to studying. Sorry not a whole lot of interesting stuff going on over here. After next Wednesday (my last exam) there will be lots to talk about. I think we are going on a little trip to celebrate. Who knows where, but it will be someplace nice!

Saturday, January 6th

2007-01-06T13:43:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!!! Sorry I have been horrible about updating this. I've been back in London since December 27th. My brother came over here with me, and my grandparents were also here to celebrate the New Year. We had an awesome New Years. The fireworks here in London were absolutely amazing. Lets see.... John (my brother) graduated from college!! YAY!! He came over here with me and is staying until his little heart desires. He got a job as a bartender and begins work on Monday. He has been living in a hotel for the past week while trying to find a flat. I think he likes it, but its a lot different than good ole Milledgeville, so he is having to adjust.

I'm studying for my final exams and as most of you know that means stressing myself out beyond belief. My first exam is on Tuesday and I feel like I've been studying and studying and still don't know anything. Ha!! I guess that isn't good, huh. I'm sure I'll do fine though. Everyone's prayers would be of great help too! Anyhow, I just wanted to take a short break from the books and update everyone! Hope all is well. After these two weeks we are going on a little vacation! I'm going to need it. :)

Saturday, December 2nd

2006-12-02T14:08:00.000-08:00

Only 10 more days!!! Im so excited. Everything is decorated over here for Christmas that its making me miss home, and the fact that it is absolutely FREEZING! My friend Josh is in town and he said that Chicago has nothing on London when it comes to the wind. I've never been to Chicago, but all I know is, London is sooooooo cold! :)

Josh came into town on Thursday. We were thinking about going to Spain or Sweden for the weekend, but last minute we changed our minds and decided to stay in London. He has never been over here, so I figured we could do lots of sightseeing. There are a lot of cool places we can go that are outside the city. Today we did a Jack the Ripper tour. We saw all the places the women were murdered. It was actually pretty interesting and informative. Last night the University course office through us a party. They rented out the downstairs of a club/bar and we had free drinks and food from 5:30-9. It was awesome! Plus it was a chance for everyone to hang out without having a bunch of schoolwork hanging over our heads. This is the 3rd time this semester that the University has given the Masters students a party. I think its a good idea since we have to pay so much money for tuition.

Anyhow, nothing too exciting going on, just thought I'd update this before I went out tonight!! Everything is going well, and Im really excited about coming home. I saw this really warm coat on the internet that I want to buy when I get home, so when I come back to London I wont freeze. Hope all is well with everyone!

Sunday, November 26th

2006-11-26T07:20:00.000-08:00

Hi!! I come home in 17 days!!! YAY!!!! So unfortunately as most of you know Georgia Tech lost! :( So sad. Reggie Ball always ruins it at the end! UGH.... Its amazing that they televised the game over here. When I went on my Amsterdam trip, I met a guy who went to Georgia Tech, so he called and some other people all got together to watch the game at a Sports Cafe in the center of town. I unfortunately have been working on research papers all weekend. I finally finished them today, and I'm so excited!! I've been doing coursework now for the past 3 weeks, and Im finally glad everything is turned in. I have a friend coming into town on Thursday, so Im really excited about that. We may be going to Spain for the weekend, but not sure. He has never been to London, so there is lots to see here. I haven't been to Stonehendge or any place like that, so maybe we will do all the touristy stuff. Who knows! Nothing exciting really with me. Just been doing lots and lots of school work. Oh I was sick this past week with bronchitis, and had to go to the doctor. Interesting system they have over here with that. Well hope everyone had a wonderful weekend shopping and being with family.

Thursday, November 23rd

2006-11-23T13:51:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!!! Right now Im sitting in my room writing a research paper. Doesn't that sound like fun :( They of course don't celebrate Thanksgiving over here, so its just a normal day. Most people have heard of it, so they ask me questions about it, but as far as turkey dinners, Im going to have to wait for next year! I hope everyone eats lots of turkey for me!

Lets see, this week has gone by pretty quick because I haven't really done anything. I have been sick all week, and had to call into work. I finally went to the doctor and got some antibiotics. I had a slight fever, and of course a deep chest cold. Basically bronchitis AGAIN! It seems like I get that every year. I feel a lot better today, so hopefully I will continue to feel better. I am going to work tomorrow though since I missed Wednesday, so while everyone is shopping like crazy, think about me!!

Today I turned in my group project. It is finally done after a lot of stress and anxiety. I learned that I will never work with this same group again! haha...it was awful. I have two more research papers due on Monday, then Im kind of good to go until finals in January. I have one more paper to write, but its not due until Dec. 15th, so I still have lots of time. Next Thursday my friend Josh is coming into town, so it should be fun. Its a good time to come, since I won't have anything due for another 2 weeks. I doubt we will go anywhere because he has never been to London. We were thinking Spain, but who knows!! If we do decide to go anywhere, it will be last minute. Anyhow, I just thought I'd tell everyone Happy Thanksgiving!!! Im getting back to my wonderful paper!

Monday, November 20th

2006-11-20T04:04:00.000-08:00

Good morning! This has been a great weekend! Sarah came into town on Thursday and we just kind of took it easy since our flight was so early on Friday. We had to leave my place at 4:45am to get to our flight at 7:30. Thats how many buses and trains we needed to catch. When we arrived in Nice, it was kind of overcast, but absolutely gorgeous. We of course toured around and took lots of pictures. Our hotel had a pool and hot tub on the roof overlooking Nice. It really was amazing. Much better than Amsterdam :) Friday night we sat ouside at this wonderful restaurant overlooking the Mediterranean. We both got this salmon and spinach lasagna that was delicious. We went back to our hotel to the bar and had a few drinks, and we met a bunch of locals. We ended just hanging out with them all night and getting ideas for what we could do on Saturday.

Saturday we woke up reasonably early and took the train to Monaco, Monte Carlo. AMAZING!!! It was just gorgeous. It was 75 degrees and sunny. Perfect to walk around. We went to the Monte Carlo Casino, and a bunch of other museums and touristy sights. We had lunch overlooking the Mediterranean again, and around 5 we headed back to Nice. It was only a 20 minute train ride, if that. Of course we got back to Nice, and went out to dinner, then experienced the night life. Definitely interesting. Most of the songs they were playing were early 90's. Its like they aren't caught up with the time. It was funny and interesting.

Sunday we headed back to freezing cold London. We ended up going to bar last night with two of my friends from here. Its been an all around fun time. This weekend has taken my mind off school and all the stress that I put on myself the past two weeks. Hope everyone is doing well!

Thursday, November 16th

2006-11-16T11:13:00.000-08:00

This has been an interesting week! I finally learned how the dentist and all works over here. A friend of mine on Monday was not at work. Someone had told me she went to the dentist over the weekend, and she had her wisdom teeth pulled. I thought it was strange since she hadn't said anything to anybody about this getting done. On Tuesday she came into work all puffy and in a lot of pain. Apparently she went to the dentist and they just decided on the spot that they should take out her wisdom teeth. So without completely numbing her mouth and everything, they cut into her gums. She said that she could hear them scraping her gums away trying to get down to the tooth. Once they pulled them out, they didn't stitch them up or anything and just let her go home. No antibiotics, nothing! She said her mouth bled all weekend. On Monday she went to the regular doctor and he gave her medicine for her mouth, but she was in horrible pain. On Tuesday the doctor had called back and said that there was a blood clot where her tooth was and it wasn't going to heal probably unless she came back in. Isn't that horrible!! I couldn't believe this story. It was like a butcher, not a dentist! I would die if they did that to me. I just remember getting my wisdom teeth out and they numbed my mouth so it stayed numb for days. Then I got some GREAT pain medication and everything. This poor girl got absolutely nothing. Her mouth and face were so swollen she could barely talk. I have not been back to work yet to check on her, but Tuesday morning I will definitely fill everyone in on her mouth. Awful, just awful!!

Anyhow, Sarah just got in this morning!! YAY!! When she walked up, she had two suitcases with her. I was like geez, you are only here for 5 days. Apparently Delta broke her suitcase and all her clothes were hanging out of it when she went to pick it up, so they gave her a brand new one. This was good, because her other one didn't have wheels! I didn't know people still had those kind of suitcases! Today we are taking it easy as we leave early tomorrow for Nice. Can't wait to go. Ready for some warmer weather. Its really cold and rainy here today!

Sunday, November 12th

2006-11-12T06:28:00.000-08:00

Good Afternoon!! Lets just say this past week I have been a complete mess. I have a group research paper due next week, and we are not even half way done with it. Its really hard to write a 10 page research paper with people that barely speak English! Actually its awful. My group says that we are going to meet at 12:30 and at 12:45 some of them come strolling up, and then they are hungry, so we sit in the cafeteria and eat. By 1:30 we start working on the project. I get so irritated when they do that! With work and all my other research papers that I have to have done within the next two weeks, I don't have time to be wasting!!! I have actually calmed down a lot this weekend, and I don't feel as stressed. I haven't really left my computer all weekend. I did half the group project on Friday night, and I finished one of my research papers yesterday. Today I am working on the other one. With Sarah coming on Thursday and us going to Nice for the weekend, I figured I needed to have as much done as possible before she got here. Im really excited that she is coming though. I can't wait. :)

My first research paper is due Nov 21st, and two others are due Nov 27th. Once I turn those in, my friend Josh is coming to visit me! I know, another visitor!! :) I love having visitors!. He is staying for 5 days, and we are undecided if we are going to go to Spain or not for the weekend. It would be cool, but we are going to wait and see what kind of last minute deals we can get. Then I have one more paper due the day I go back home!!! This semester is flying by! I can't believe I've already been here 2 months, and its almost time for me to come home for Christmas! Im not really homesick, but knowing that going home is so near, it really makes me miss it! I can't wait to see everyone. Especially my cute little niece! :) ok, enough of the sob story! haha... I gotta get back to work. I will talk to everyone later!

Monday, November 6th

2006-11-06T12:39:00.000-08:00

I'm back and completely exhausted!! I woke up early on Friday morning, because I was meeting the travel club at 7am to go to Amsterdam. My friend Arni that was supposed to go with me ended up missing the bus, so I went alone, not knowing anyone. It was good though because it forced me to meet more new people. I ended up coming back with 3 really good friends! (YAY!!) So Friday morning, we drove to Dover and took the ferry over the English Channel, and got to Amsterdam at like 4 in the afternoon. We checked into our hotel and then we had a tour guide just show us around the city. Of course they planned on taking us to the red light district, but I skipped out on that tour, and went out to dinner with some people instead. I wasn't really into seeing women standing in windows, etc... Friday night was a free night to do whatever, so we checked out a few bars, and wandered around. I thought the city was really cute with all the canals, however I thought it was super sketchy. The people were scary, drugs were everywhere, they had public urinals in the middle of the square!!! I guess I knew that drugs were legal there, but you can't imagine what its like to walk into a "coffee shop" where people are just sitting around smoking, until you have actually experienced it. That part was AWFUL! Saturday we went outside the city to Volendam, which was absolutely gorgeous. It was on the coast, so there were sailboats and fishermen etc.. it was such a cute little town. We also went to the cheese factory, clog factory, Heinken museum (brewery), Anne Frank house, the Van Gogh museum, and lastly took a night boat tour through the canals. This was the part of Amsterdam I enjoyed. There was so much to see in such little time! Sunday morning we woke up and drove to Bruge, Belguim. I LOVED Bruge. It was gorgeous with cobblestone roads and chocolate everywhere. I got myself a Belguim waffle with a chocolate topping. It tasted like heaven :) Then we headed to the chocolate factory, where we got to taste all different kinds of chocolate that they made. Good thing I only had 20 euros left or I would have gone a little crazy buying all the chocolate. It was delicious! We got back to London around 10pm Sunday night. All in all it was a great weekend. I really enjoyed all the people that I went with and the sites of Amsterdam. The night life however was too much for me. I've decided Amsterdam is a place I'm glad I've been, but not one I would want to go back too! Hope everyone is doing well!!

Just a reminder for everyone that Sarah is coming in 9 days and we are going to Nice!! I can't wait for her to get here. Until then I'm studying like crazy so I don't have to do any school work when she is here. Talk to everyone later!!

Thursday, November 2nd

2006-11-02T01:57:00.000-08:00

Good Morning!!! Today is absolutely freezing here. I think it is getting colder and colder by the day. I got up and decided to go for a run and I think my ears were frozen by the time I got back. I guess next time I will wear a hat :) I have class all day today, then tonight I am packing for my first trip! I am so excited!! I leave for Amsterdam tomorrow at 7am and I get back on Sunday evening around 10pm, so I have 3 full days there. I will take lots of good pictures and hopefully get to post a few of them. Don't worry everyone, I will be VERY careful!! Talk to everyone when I get back!

Saturday, October 28th

2006-10-28T11:09:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone! Sorry I have not updated my blog in awhile. I kept forgetting :) Lately everything has been super busy. I had a rough week last week getting to work on time because I was sleeping through my alarm. Since I was late to work on my normal days I had to go in an extra day to make up for the time that I missed. NOT FUN! Other than that, everything is still going very well. Last night I went to a halloween party, and tonight we are going to another. On Tuesday, its my flatmates birthday, so we are throwing a halloween/birthday party here at our place. It should be fun, and interesting since its not very big! I have to get up and work the next morning, so that should also be fun. I'll be nice and tired on Wednesday.

It looks like I'm finally going on a trip! My friend Arni from Iceland and I are going to Amsterdam next weekend. We are leaving Friday morning with the University travel club, and coming back late Sunday night. I'm really excited. We are going to some famous cheese factory and also to see where they make clogs! I'm going to get myself a pair if I find cute ones!

Sarah is coming in like 15 days and we are headed to Nice, France! I can't wait until she comes. I enjoy having visitors. I haven't had any exams or anything for school yet. The only exams I have are my finals which don't take place until January. I have a paper due in each class but they haven't given us dates that they are due, or even the topic yet, so I haven't been doing a whole lot of schoolwork. I am studying though! I'm trying to stay ahead so this final exam in January doesn't kick my butt, since its basically my only grade! We finish classes Dec. 5th and then finals aren't until January 8th, so we have an entire month to study or forget everything! Anyhow, I'll write back in a few days and hopefully have some pictures of our halloween party. Im excited. Hope everyone is doing well! I miss everyone! :)

Monday, October 16th

2006-10-16T14:50:00.000-07:00

Cheers! :) haha...

Lets see, what have I been up to. Everything is still going absolutely wonderful. Sarah is coming in a month and we just booked a trip to Nice, France. We were going to go to Amsterdam, but last minute decided to go to Nice instead. (we got a better deal). I had to work today and then I had class right afterwards. I also found out today that I have been nominated by my classmates to be a student respresentative for the Masters program of my school! I had no idea that this was even going on. Today I saw this email with my name on it, and I was really confused as to what it was. If I win, then I am the student representative of the class of 2007 Masters students! Thats crazy! I can't believe people nominated me. Anyhow, I don't think I'm going to win, but I did think it was kind of cool to get nominated. Hope everything is going well with everyone!! :)

Friday, October 13th

2006-10-13T15:23:00.000-07:00

Today is Friday the 13th...YIKES! haha..jk! Anyhow, so Im still in London. Unfortunately my trip to Belguim got canceled yesterday. I was really disappointed because I was looking forward to going. They said they would give me a discount to go in November, but since Sarah is coming and we are going to Nice, France I don't know that going out of town twice in one month with school is the best of ideas! Maybe I'll do something cool next weekend. Who knows! :)

Classes are going very well! I'm glad I had a few years of work experience because I feel like it gives me a definite advantage over others. There are some people in my class fresh out of their undergrad and they are already studying! CRAZY! Work is going well also. Im finally starting my weekly routine, which I like very much. I hate running around all crazy and stressed. Anyhow, just thought I'd update. Not a whole lot going on, you know the normal! :)

Sunday, October 8th

2006-10-08T04:37:00.000-07:00

Good Morning Everyone!! Well, my lasagna was a SUCCESS!! I spent like 1 hour in the grocery just trying to find everything I needed. I didn't understand the cheeses, so I was on the phone with my mom reading her the selections and she was helping me! Good thing I finally have a cell phone over here! I came back and started cooking. It took forever for me to prepare because I had bought the biggest pan ever!! Finally 7:30 rolled around and it was time for everyone to come over! It looked good and smelt good, so I was hoping it tasted good! Everyone absolutely loved it and one guy even asked for the recipe. :) They even wanted to do dinner night again tonight and eat the leftovers. It was great! I actually enjoyed cooking for everyone, so hopefully I can learn some new things and become a little chef! haha.... yea right.

After dinner I went and met up with some people from classes. 3 of the guys in my class have almost the same birthday so they rented tables in this club and we got served free drinks all night long! It was nice! They played Greek music most of the time, so I had no idea what any of the words were, but it had a really nice beat! Everyone, I mean everyone can dance! I was very impressed with all the guys! It was nice to see some real dancing and non of this "booty shaking" stuff I'm used to doing. Well attempting to do more or less! :)

Today has got to be a relaxing day for me. I've been running around all week and need today to rest and run some errands. I'm not sure if I'm still going to Belguim this upcoming week or not. I received a call the other day from the travel people telling me they may have to cancel the trip, but would let me know! I hope they don't b/c I'm really looking forward to going somewhere! Anyhow, hope all is well with everyone. The picture is what my lasagna looked like before I put it in the oven. Its a tower of lasagna..haha

Saturday, October 7th

2006-10-08T04:25:00.000-07:00

Hello Hello! Life is going great right now. Cameron came into town on Thursday, so when I got out of class I went and met him and some others out on the town. I had a great time because a lot of the people he knew from over here are from this area, so they knew the cool places to go that weren't so touristy. On Friday we were going to get up and do all the touristy stuff, but the weather ended up being horrible! We walked around for a little while in the rain and did some sightseeing. After that, it was of course time to start partying again. We met back up with his friends for another night out! His friends were very friendly and lots of fun. I'm glad that he came and I got to meet all his English friends.

Its finally Saturday night and its my time to cook dinner! Im very nervous. I'm about to head to the store and get everything I need to make lasagna! Im so nervous. I believe its going to be anywhere from 10-15 people coming tonight! YIKES! Hopefully it goes well!

Tuesday, October 3rd

2006-10-03T13:07:00.000-07:00

So, yesterday was my first day at Marsh over here! I absolutely loved it. Well, I loved it as much as you could love work. The people were super friendly and very helpful with everything. They took me out to lunch, and made me feel very welcome. Since one of my classes changed to Monday evenings, I had to leave straight from work and go to class, so it was the LONGEST day I've had in a long time. I worked from 9-5 and had class from 6-9. For those of you that are considering going to school part-time and working and have a schedule like that all week, you are CRAZY! I only have it on Mondays now, but once a week won't be that bad. It was either that or give up having Fridays completely off. I refuse to do that because then I can't take my weekend trips all over!

Today was another busy day because I went into work for a couple hours in the morning just for some more training. I worked from 9-1 and had class from 3-6. It felt almost like a normal day! I don't have any more days this week that I have both class and work, so that will be nice. Tonight was one of the guys in my classes birthday, so we went out for a drink to celebrate. Saturday night there is going to be a huge party because 3 of the guys in my class have birthdays over the weekend! After I cook a wonderful dinner for all my friends that I live with, I'm going out for the evening! Also, my first visitor will arrive! Cameron! I'm so glad he is coming. We are going to take him everywhere this weekend! YAY! Talk to you later!

Sunday, October 1st

2006-10-01T04:48:00.000-07:00

HEEEELLLLLLLOOO!!! Well today its pouring down rain, so I won't be doing a whole lot. Last night was dinner night, and of course we had a blast. The food was delicious and we had some new people join! Next week is my week, so be ready for an interesting story. After dinner we all went out to a local club only 10 minutes from our house. I love the people that I live with! Everyone is so friendly and we take care of one another. They are the ideal people to be flat mates with. Anyhow, not a whole lot to say. Tomorrow I start my first day of work! I'm a little nervous, but very excited. One of my classes got changed to Monday evenings, so I now have to work all day and then go to class from 6-9! Its going to be a long day, but once a week won't be that bad.

The picture is of two girls that live with me. The one in the middle is Angeliki from Cyrpus, and the one on the right is Chrissy from Greece! Both are very beautiful girls, and wonderful to hang out with!

Saturday, September 30th

2006-10-01T04:30:00.000-07:00

Good Morning Everyone! Friday I had my statistics test and it was REALLY easy! It only took me 30 minutes to complete the entire test because it was 20 questions and multiple choice. Everyone in my class thinks I'm a genius because I could do all the math that fast. I think I'm going to like it here :) One girl even asked if I could sit in front of her so she could cheat off me! haha... someone wants to cheat off me!! I never thought I'd ever hear those words! I only studied for 10 minutes or so, because this test didn't count towards anything. Besides, Thursday night was this big formal party for all Masters students. It was put on by the University at the London Museum. We had full access to the museum and of course, an open bar for 4 hours! A lot of people in my class didn't go because they wanted to study. Me however, I wasn't going to pass up on the opportunity to meet people. I had a great time!

Friday night was the first night I've been out out in London. I went with 2 of my girlfriends to a local bar and later we met up with a bunch of guys that we had met at school. They had their name on some VIP list at a club in Picadilly Circus, which is a really "happening" place in London. Lots of clubs everywhere. Its like Buckhead times 50! The club was huge and jammed packed with people! I've never seen such a big club. It had 4 different floors, and on each floor they were playing a different type of music. We had a great time! The only thing that stinks about going out is its very hard to get home at night. They shut down all the trains, and the night buses only come every 30 minutes. I didnt like that very much. I could take a cab, but that would cost me like 30 pounds, and thats WAY too much money. Today I am going with my friend to Oxford street to shop. I enjoy walking around looking at all the clothes and shoes, but I have such a hard time spending my money. Its all so expensive once I take in the exchange rate! :(

GREAT Morning!

2006-09-27T02:22:00.000-07:00

I woke up and went for my morning jog, and I found £90 which is equivalent to $170, just laying in the middle of the sidewalk! I'm so excited. There wasn't anyone walking or standing around for me to even ask if they dropped anything. YAY!!

Tuesday, September 26th

2006-09-26T12:38:00.000-07:00

Today I finally figured out why my bathroom gets so wet. Its not called a bathroom, its called a wet room! So basically there is no way that I can keep anything dry in it. Just so everyone can see this wonderful facility that I have, I took a picture! This is my "wet room". You can see the drain in the bottom right. Notice the space though! Its LITTLE and the drain is basically where your feet are when going to the bathroom. I'm getting used to it though, and I'd hate to complain too much since I don't have to share it with anyone.

Monday, September 25th

2006-09-25T10:53:00.000-07:00

Good Evening! Well its evening for me! I'm sitting in my excel class right now, and its really boring, so I thought I'd update my blog! Lets see, yesterday I went to a cook out with some people from my living area and then there was a festival right down the street from my place, so we took some blankets and a cooler (of course) and listened to music all day. It was a beautiful day, so we had a great time! Today I signed up for my first trip. I'm very excited. I joined the Travel Club at the International Student House for all students in Universities in London. I'm going to Brussels and Bruges Belgium on Oct 13th-15th. I don't have class on Fridays so its a good 3 day trip. Anyhow, I have to sign off now, my excel teacher is driving me crazy. I just had to go up and show him how to find the NPV because he kept doing it wrong. Talk to you tomorrow!

Sunday, September 24th

2006-09-24T05:19:00.000-07:00

Good Afternoon! I love being back in college! This morning I got up and went for a run. I'm looking into joining a gym today because even though I walk everywhere, I still feel really lazy. Today the Greek guys that I met last night invited me to a cook out in the park, so I'm getting ready for that now.

Last night was our dinner night. More and more people are beginning to join our little club. There were about 12 of us last night for the Chinese meal that we had. It was absolutely delicious. Everyone here can cook very well. My night to cook dinner is in 2 weeks, and I have absolutely no idea what to make. Maybe some sort of pasta because thats pretty easy. After dinner we went to our neighbors and had a "get together". It was lots of fun! Every night I meet more and more people. Its amazing! Its definitely going to be an interesting year. I haven't lived in a college atmosphere in a long time. Its nice to walk out of my room and always know that something is going on.

The picture is of the yummy food at dinner night! Hope everything is going well for everyone!

Friday, September 22nd

2006-09-22T11:14:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone! Sorry I have not updated this all week. I have had class from 8am to 9pm for the past 3 days, so I haven't really been able to sit down at the computer and type. Besides, after class everyday, I have to go to the pub with everyone, so even if I did sit at the computer, my typing would be awful. This week has been a long week with class. Everything is still going very well though. They call these first two weeks induction, because its just refresher math and excel courses to get everyone on the same page. I have a little group of friends in my class, who are all Greek. Every day they give me a few words or phrases so I can learn the language, and then they quiz me the next day. Hopefully by the end of the year I will be able to have conversations with them! Its fun!

Today was also the first rainy day in London that I've experienced! Of course I have a story behind it, because if something doesn't happen to me everyday I begin to wonder. The buses get REALLY crowded during rush hour here on Fridays. Its a ridiculous mess. So of course my class ended at 4 and we all went for a few drinks! Well, I get on the bus and I had to walk up the steps to the top so I could breathe. Once my stop came, I was standing on the stairs waiting for others to get off, so I could get off. When the bus came to a stop I fell forward ALL the way down the stairs! I knocked over this old man, and wripped my jeans! :( It hurt really bad. My arms are all scraped up and I have a bruise on my leg. Not fun! The lesson I learned from all of this is not to walk up to the second story of the bus when its raining and slippery. I didn't get yelled at by the bus driver or thrown off like my dad did, but the little old man sure had a few choice words for me. Oh well! I apologized, what more could I do :) Anyhow, I'm off to shower and then head back out to the bars. I'm telling you, I don't know how these people get any work done when the pubs are ALWAYS packed. Have a wonderful Friday!

Monday, September 18th

2006-09-18T23:30:00.000-07:00

Hello! Yesterday was our little trip to Oxford. Like always, all the tubes were down when we went to get on them, so we had a hard time getting to the train station. Once we finally got to the station, we almost missed our train and had to jump on it while the doors were closing. Since we got on so late we had to stand the entire trip because there were no seats! Once we got there we walked all over Oxford. We saw all the Universities, rowing on the river, and all the boathouses. It was really neat the way each school had their own boathouse with shields to represent them. The town was very old and beautiful. Very different from London. It looks like that could be a fun party town since there are like 20 different Universities within a few miles.

Also today was my first day of class. Well it wasn't class, more like an introduction to the semester. The class director just spoke and then we had tea time to get to know everyone. The majority of my class is Asian, Greek or Russian. I'm the only American, again! I spoke with my professor that teaches my Tuesday night class and he said they don't get very many Americans studying over here and he was very impressed. Hopefully thats a good sign! :)

Oh and my dad got kicked of the buses here and had his card deactivated. It was hilarious. After dinner we jumped on the bus to go back to my apartment. The bus was packed so we just jumped on the back and crammed in. Well, apparently someone hit this little button and the bus driver thought it was my dad, so he turned off the bus and started screaming at him to get off the bus. We thought he was talking to someone else, so we were just standing there until everyone was looking at my dad. He asked to see my dads ticket so of course he held it up. The driver said he needed to come to the front of the bus to swipe his card. While my dad was swiping his card, the bus driver turned off his machine so it looked like his card was deactivated. He got thrown off the bus and the driver was yelling at him. haha..it was so funny. My mom and I were so crammed in, we couldn't get off, so he had to run to my place. It was just funny how determined the bus driver was to throw my dad off the bus since he thought my dad pressed this button. Something interesting definitely happens to me everyday here. I'm having a blast though!

Saturday, September 16th

2006-09-16T10:15:00.000-07:00

Hello! Well, we just got word that my luggage is coming! What a relief. Ok, so a little about where I'm living. Its about a 20 minute bus ride from my Univeristy. It sounds far, but everything takes so long to get to because of all the stops the buses have to make. Everyone dresses in suits to class, which I'm not looking forward to. Hopefully people will relax a little once the semester gets going. I have 5 other people on the floor with me. I have my own room and bathroom and share a kitchen with the other people. 3 guys are from South Korea, 1 guy is from Northern England and then the girl is from Cyprus. Everyone is super friendly. Every Saturday our floor is going to do dinner together. 2 people each week pick a meal and cook for everyone. This should be interesting for me since the only thing I know how to cook are eggs! I'm thinking this will be a good learning experience for me. Today we went to Letchworth, which is where I am going to be working. It is about 30 minutes from London and such a cute little town. We went to the same Pizza Hut that my mom and I went to back in June and had the same waiter. I was very impressed that he remembered us! Everything is finally coming together. Yesterday all my bank accounts were frozen b/c I failed to notify them that I was living over here for a year. I can't get a cell phone or bank account until Wednesday, and once I have that, I'll be good to go! (well hopefully) Oh and one last thing about my room. My room is about as big as my dorm room was at Georgia State, so its pretty decent. My bathroom however is smaller than a bathroom on a cruiseship. The shower basically hangs over the toliet and floods the entire bathroom floor. Its annoying! I'm trying to figure out the best way to work this whole shower thing. I mean, I might as well just sit on the toliet and take a shower, thats how small it is. I'm having a blast though and am absolutely loving it. Tomorrow we are heading to Oxford to walk around. I'm really looking forward to that. Hope all is well with everyone!

Friday, September 15th

2006-09-15T04:28:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone! This has been my first opportunity on the internet. Here is what has been going on with me the past few days. We arrived in London early Wednesday and of course Delta lost my luggage. All my bedding stuff was in there a long with the equipment I need to upload pictures onto my computer. That was also the only bag that had my parents cell phones, cameras and personal items that they could not carry on. I have already met a lot of really nice people. One guy threw a welcome party the first night I moved in. It was lots of fun. Good thing I had a few beers in me though b/c I let my mom convince me that I didn't need a pillow or blanket to sleep the first night b/c I don't have air conditioning in my room. So I used a sweater for a pillow and a towel for a blanket. It was NOT comfy! Needless to say I went and bought everything yesterday because Delta has still not recovered our luggage. My school is really nice. It took us forever to find it because we apparently missed our stop. After an hour of walking and not finding my college, I decided we were jumping in a cab. Everytime I go to do something or find something it takes me 3 hours. Later tonight I'll jump back on here and tell you more stories because it has definitely been one thing after another.

Preparing For London

2006-09-05T09:43:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone! I will update this as soon as I get there!