Netball!

ok...so, even though our team hasn't won a game, we still manage to encourage eachother and have a laugh while out on the court. Our last game before the break was probably the most successful game, and the most fun we had on the court all season! We weren't trailing by too much and had a lot of improvement on the court. The women on the other team were great players and extremely good sports, they were friendly and after our match, shared coffee, mince pies, chocolates, and other goodies with us! We were even able to invite them to Capernwray's Christmas production which was awesome! I would have to say that even though it was the COLDEST night and the court was icy and a bit dangerous, we had such a great time even with a bit of reckless slips. Wish us luck for next term...our coach is treating us to a pizza party if we win a game! We almost had him convinced on the return to make a stop, but we had to settle for a picture in front of the Christmas tree in Over Kellet.

Weekend Trips

About a month ago, Capernwray organized a day trip to Liverpool and shockingly the majority of the students decided to go ;-) The coach ride may have been miserable, but it was worth it just to have a break from school and get into a big city. I got to spend an hour and a half in the Tate Liverpool, a very contemporary modern art museum, but it was just fantastic to be in a museum and see some art that I studied a few years ago! After meeting up with some girlfriends, we left Alfred's Dock and wandered up to a new shopping area called the Liverpool 1 and then headed to PriMark....this crazy store that is huge, and super cheap! It was way too overwhelming but we were able to nab some good deals....including matching roomie pajamas for Christmas! After meeting up with some more friends, we all headed to Pizza Express for dinner then caught a taxi to the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall and spent the evening watching the Liverpool opera/philharmonic. It was so different than any opera i would have expected, but the music was amazing, and it was just nice to be spending so much time engrossed in art and culture. I'm looking forward to returning to Liverpool and doing some more sightseeing type adventures. I would love to see some sights of Beatles fame and some of the older architecture, we'll see what happens before winter school is thru.
A couple of weeks ago, a much smaller group went to The Trafford Center shopping center in Manchester. Oh my goodness, it was so much fun to be at a shopping mall, after I got over the first reaction at the size of it, I began to feel right at home! Our first stop was a massive department store called Selfridges and their food court for wait for it, Krispy Kreme donuts!!! Katie and I got to hang out and shop all day, we had an amazing lunch at a place called Barburrito....an attempt at being like Chipotle and Rubio's, but just not quite the same. We were just so excited to be eating Mexican food that was actually tasty! So, we had such a blast shopping and searching for Christmas Banquet dresses and shoes that the day simply flew by without us even realizing it. After picking up a few more Christmas presents, we headed back to the car pack and loaded up the coach again and started off on our journey home. Katie and I were able to occupy ourselves both there and back listening to her ipod and singing along...our return trip was accompanied by the soundtrack of Grease!!!

An Update..pre-Christmas!

So, the last time I wrote was quite a while back, and since then life has changed...as it always does. Our fancy dress evening was such a blast and it was awesome how much everyone got into it, a lot of very creative costume ideas were produced! My roomies became 3 members of the wizard of oz cast along with a neighbor, an R.A., and another one of our friends! Andrew, a member of staff, convinced me to where a pirate costume that was in a costume closet here...apparently created for an adult, but realistically the size of a 7 year old, hello leggings! So after lots of photo's and a very entertaining tea, we all congregated in the lounge and played pictionary/charades in our particular themed characters...of course, hilarity ensued.
The weather turned very cold over the past weeks, and we even had a day of snowfall, which was very exciting even though it didn't stick to the ground, but to have huge snowflakes floating down from the sky was incredible! One of the days, Kendal, a town 20 minutes north of us, had quite a bit of snow that actually stayed and we took advantage of the bus going up there and got to enjoy slipping around on the mushy, wet ice/snow! Katie, and two of our guy friends and I hung out in our favorite coffee shop, Caffe Nero for a few hours and just laughed and enjoyed being out! Capernwray became quite the winter wonderland with all the frost that arrived each morning and lasted all day, it was really quite magical!
When the weather has been more forgiving, we have had some wonderful opportunities to hang out and enjoy eachothers company. One of our favorite places to do that is at a local pub in a little town called Over Kellet which is just about 2 miles away from Capernwray. For about a month straight, we were going every weekend, and it became a really great little tradition. Only once have we actally walked there, simply because of the horrible weather, but the taxi ride isn't too expensive when we split it up! We have pretty much given up on actually ordering meals, and stick to our usual.... several orders of STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING that are split between the table and of course regular tea for us all!! One of the greatest desserts known to mankind....whenever you make it out to the UK.....be sure to have it, so delicious that words cannot even describe this moist cake like creation that is then served HOT with amazingly delectable custard!!! Can you tell i'm drooling over here! So several occasions have been had at The Eagles Head Pub, we can never spend less than an hour and half in our booth, and have on occasion spent a good 4 hours chatting, eating, and playing cards!
So, all in all, even when the weather is simply English weather (and miserable) we still have the ability to enjoy ourselves and create our own entertainment and have our own fun!

The Internet is BACK!!!!

After a week of a media/internet/ipod/film fast, the internet is back with a vengeance :-) It's Saturday and after a crazy week it feels so nice to just veg out and relax. The weather this morning has turned into a full on romantic backdrop, with fog rolling in so thick that I can't even see past the front drive....for all you movie lovers imagine the ending scene in the new Pride & Prejudice when they are walking towards each other....that's right, I get to live it (well sort of, just not with Mr. Darcy!) Last night was a fun filled night of improv, the second annual theater sports night at Capernwray. And yes, I did participate, I was unknowingly signed up on a team with three guy friends who took the liberty of adding me...crazy kids. It ended up being such a blast and we came in second place (we should have been first...even ask the students!) There were certainly some VERY embarrassing moments, but being able to laugh my way out of them was a huge plus! For those of you who have experienced me in my crazy giddy times, you'll be able to have some idea of how silly I was last night.
Tonight we are having a fancy dress and silly games night (in England, fancy dress means costume dress up) so my theme is Pirate...it should turn out to be an interesting evening, with all of the costume plans that are coming out! I'll be sure to post pictures from yesterday and tonight on facebook and hopefully here soon!
I hope that you all had a great Thanksgiving! It was different not being with my family this year, but it didn't feel awful because all of the American students were going through the same type of emotions, so we were able to hang out and comfort each other. A large group went out and played American Football in the cow pastures, which was so much fun to watch..freezing, but fun! Then the kitchen staff did a really nice job of decorating the dining hall and serving us a very delicious substitute Thanksgiving meal. I really appreciated that, especially because they didn't have to do anything for us, I liked the fact that they took into consideration how big of a holiday it is for us!
Well, at the moment I can't think of anything else that is too exciting right now, but I will be sure to keep you all updated, so keep reading!
Love to you all...signing off from this side of the world...

questions...

i must made a really difficult decision that i just haven't been able to let go of yet. It's only been two days, but this was one of the biggest decisions i've had to make in a long time. What made it even more difficult was being away from home and those who's input means so much to me. I know that God has a plan for everything that I do, but this is one of those instances that i'm not sure if i trusted wholly in Him and made the wrong decision. I really need prayer for peace about this decision and that i can support those around me. love and miss

Lancaster

why is the internet faster at mcdonalds??? Katie and I are using our time wisely and uploading photos to facebook....i'll certainly try to upload some here as well :-) We have also stuffed ourselves with delicious Cafe Nero coffee and muffins and are now...i'm not gonna lie, sharing a mcflurry and a coke. The reason being that coke is often code for pepsi here and Katie misses Coke...we also discovered a delicious candy twisted into the ice cream called cruchies...who cares what they are but they are soooo tasty! The rain has been coming down and with it came my impressive ability to make a total fool of myself....Here's some advice, don't run in the rain unless you are wearing appropriate footwear, i'll let you in on what happens when you don't, you fall, rip your jeans, and scrape up your knee...oh and get wet because most likely you've fallen in a puddle! It's a great thing, let me tell you. Hope everyone in the states is enjoying a day off...love to all

Rain....

It's 8:30 at night here on Saturday the 8th of November, and it's raining...what a shocker! In fact, this week has been the driest since we arrived, so it is a bit hard to have to readjust to it again. I haven't minded the rain so much here, but it gets hard when there are so many moments when all you want to do is go outside and not get drenched!
I find that when it rains, I tend to mope and think a lot more about home and what I miss about, mostly the people. I think the rain has become a metaphor for my homesickness, when it comes it comes in waves and doesn't always affect me. But when it's a real storm, it just knocks me over like the rain here that comes at you from every possible angle that there is just no way of getting out of it without getting drenched.
I love it here in England and am not looking forward to the day I have to leave, but I still want those back home, to know how much I am looking forward to hearing from them...hint, hint....b/c I certainly want to be kept up to date with your lives, even though I'm so far away...I will be back and have to be updated!!! Post is always appreciated, doesn't matter how big or small, even a quick note will brighten my day!!! And there is a guarantee in my answering, one of my favorite things!!! just ask and my address will be given!

SCOTLAND!!!

Edinburgh climbed the list of my favorite cities after this past weekend! A three hour train ride took me and my two travel buddies up into Edinburgh last Friday and like every new place, we were a bit lost at first, but once we gained our bearings, we were pros of navigating the city. I loved everything about being in a big city again! It seemed strange at first to be surrounded by the bustling of people, traffic, and fellow tourists! It was also quite a bit of fun to do some shopping as well ;-)
Being seperated from my friends was actually quite sad, but it became evident pretty quickly that I was enjoying the seperation from a massive group of people. On Saturday, we woke up and spent a few hours hiking up St. Arthur's Seat and got to take some beautiful photographs of the view of the whole of Edinburgh. If anyone is thinking about traveling the Scotland, this hike was absolutely amazing and well worth the effort, trust me, I managed and was not at all wearing appropriate footwear!
Sunday we spent on a mMercedes mini coach on a 9 hour tour of Loch Lomond, The Trussachs, and even Stirling, where we got to tour the Stirling Castle and view the William Wallace Monument (Braveheart)!!
It was hard to get on the train and return to Capernwray, mainly because I loved being in a hub again and being surrounded by other people who I don't see every day. Living in a small community really takes a lot of me at this point. So after a very eventful weekend, this past week has seemed pretty slow. We all had fun telling eachother stories about our different adventures and seeing pictures of trips to other places. Even though we are so close to Scotland, traveling is hard, but I certainly hope that I will be able to make it back to a country that contains some awesome family heritage!!!!

Capernwray

It's hard to believe that six weeks have passed since I left the sunny shores of California. In that month and a half, my life has changed to a level that I didn't even know would have been possible in that amount of time.
After an interesting moment at customs, I made it into my new home country for the next few months and spent an exciting three days in London. Exploring one of my favorite cities for those three days was such a great experience and I was so happy to have the time alone to explore. I got to see the sights, spend time in my favorite museums and even see a show!! The fact that I did it all in such a short amount of time is still astonishing to me now. :-)
Capernwray Hall is a phenomenal building and I still have to pinch myself with the truth that I live in a castle. The main house, contains girls bedrooms, the loung, library, prep room, and common room, laundry room, and a whole other host of rooms, with a courtyard enclosed with the boys rooms. Our dining hall, sports hall, swimming pool, and conference hall (where lectures are held) are all just a quick walk out the back door of the main house.
My roomies are amazing and we get on extremely well, we are of varied home lands, USA, Canada, Slovakia, and England. It's amazing how God seemed to know exactly who we needed to be blessed with and put us together for a reason.
Friendships have been a huge blessing here and although it helps with making it feel more like home here, it makes me miss home and friends left back in the states a bit more at the same time. So make sure you all know how much I love and miss you all!

Goodbyes...

Why are goodbyes so hard? Even though I know i'll be back and will see my dear friends again, it's always so difficult to leave. As I drive away in my little car and peer through my rear view mirror, I try not to think too much about how i'm going to miss those i'm leaving behind but rather, I focus on the memories that we've had together. Those memories are what keep me going and make life so special. The laughter and tears are what my friendships are made up of and my life wouldn't be the same without them. Saying goodbye to those still at school meant so much, being able to share with you the excitement and nerves I have about leaving and to be encouraged by those who know me so well makes it all worth it.

I'm still procrastinating about my packing and dreading starting, but i'm looking forward to arriving in London and unpacking then shopping, repacking, catching my bus, getting to school, unpacking, meeting people, and missing you....

Preparations

As I am getting ready to leave on my year abroad I can't help but feel some anxiousness and apprehension about the year ahead. I've been wanting to travel and live abroad for as long as I can remember, but now that it's around the corner and is setting in, I know my life is going to to change for the better, forever! Packing seems like a daunting task and is probably the most avoided task for me right now. I'm more concerned about saying goodbye to those family and friends that are so dear to me and whom I am going to miss more than anything. My thoughts may be jumbled about what the future holds, but never about the fact that whatever comes my way, my support system will be there to raise me up!

In Him