Oxford

So I went to Oxford last week (Wednesday I think, everything is just really a blur over here) and I haven't blogged about it yet. Truth is it happens quite a bit, even though I feel like a blog a ton. I'm just constantly doing things--like buying tickets to Portugal...WHAT? What kind of life do I live? Seriously it's getting a bit ridiculous, I mean I'm mid packing for Paris when all the sudden Blake runs in the room and says buy tickets for Portugal now. And you know what? We do it. What can I say this is looking pretty good right now:

Anywho here are some pictures of my trip to oxford:

It was a lovely trip. And in a few hours I will be in Paris with my good friends... and my brother Ryan. Au revoir!

March Countdown

2 days till PARIS
11 days till WALES
16 days till IRELAND
22 days till BELGIUM and Northern FRANCE

Oh March what a busy month you're going to be... I can't wait!

Harrods

...should be it's own city. Or at least have its own post code, which it might, I don't even know. It has a whole floor basically dedicated to candy. It is officially the happiest place on Earth, sorry Disneyland.

Today was the perfect day. I went to Kensington Palace and learned about Princesses and then went to Harrods and tried on a 40,000 dollar engagement ring from Tiffany's. That right there is every girls dream. Perfection. Oh and for dinner we had pancakes with chocolate, nutella, toffee, bananas, triple chocolate ice cream, and vanilla ice cream on top. Can life get any better?

15 Interesting Things...Really?

So my friend Brooke "tagged" me on her blog. She probably did because she knows I'm a stalker and avidly read her blog. I don't really know what this whole "tagging" thing means, but I guess I'll copy and paste the rules...
Rules of the game:
1. You must share 15 interesting facts about yourself
2. You must tag 5 other people

Warning, this could be random and lame.

1. I've eaten twice my body weight in Reese's and Kinder Buenos (well chocolate in general).
2. I'm a citizen of both the U.S. and Australia.
3. My two front teeth are fake.
4. I online window shop like nobody's business.
5. I sleep abnormally longer than most human beings. Really.
6. I am currently living my dream life.
7. My alter ego is Hagrid, but not really.
8. I'll soon be visiting 7 countries within like a 6 week time span...say what?!?
9. I love naps, they keep me happy.
10. I ate 3 whole pizzas in one sitting. I was 14, and my dad thought I had a tape worm.
11. Speaking of family, all my cousins are Fridens. My dad has 6 brothers, my mom only has one sister, and she married my dad's brother. Hence all our last names are Friden (well except I have cousins that are now married). We're our own breed; mind blowing, I know.
12. My goal in life is to visit the 7 wonders of the world. I don't know if that will happen though...
13. As 'you' can probably tell, I'm OBSESSED with traveling. It fascinates me, people fascinate me.
14. I want to be a world traveler, a food taste tester, or a competitive eater...or all 3. Have my cake and eat it too kind of philosophy.
15. I can't cook, resulting in me eating junk food.


Now the 5 people I tag are:

Karli Ferrin
Sara Turner
Jenny Friden (mostly to see if she even reads my blog, and to see if she'll ever update hers...)
Jamie Nickell
Natalie Timpson (my latest follower, welcome)

Creeps

I have a few REALLY good friends. But I'm particularly thinking of these two tonight.

These are two of my besties: Karli Ferrin and Jori Larsen. We have been besties for quite some time, and as most friends do we've had our rough patches--like Jori ignoring me most of sophomore year, it's not like I'm bitter or anything, but the weird thing about us is I don't think we've ever had a fight, and all my memories with them are some of my best memories. I can't even count how many times we've laughed till we've cried, played monkey ball, made sonic lemon-berry slush runs, peed our pants (Karli on my kitchen floor), made mac and cheese, caused ruckus (namely doorbell ditching, yes we are quite immature), taken naps, eaten endless amounts of junk food, watched sappy love stories, laid on cement, gone to 7 peaks, screamed Josh Groban at the top of our lungs, walked around my neighborhood, walked (or rather rode my moms jazzy) to Allens (RIP Allens, you are missed), and talked about boys (mostly boys that didn't know we existed). I have loved every memory with them, and always know I can be myself around them.

Okay enough of the introductions, 'you' want to know why I have been thinking of them. Well 'you' see, here at the centre I'm known for my stalking abilities, and everyone thinks I'm a creep (but they love it). I was reminded today that it's normal. *Maybe it's just Karli, Jori and I who are creeps, but I skyped them today and it's possible they are creepier than I am. And I love them for it. That is why we are best friends. And that is why I miss them dearly.

* No I will not mention what/ who we were stalking and creeping on. It is highly inappropriate.

It's that time again...

Yes, it is in fact Kitchen Duty time again. WHA? Where has the time gone? It means I'm officially on the downhill of this adventure. I seriously can't believe it, and I'm in denial; I never want to leave. I really can't imagine being here for just a term..it's not enough time. I got to live it up with the time I have left... :(

The City I LOVE

Self Reminder:

Pounds are not the same as dollars. The sooner I come to terms with this the better.

Recap

Here is just a little recap of my week, since I haven't had time to blog about each individual event.

Monday: Swan Lake Ballet. I hand it to all you ballerinas out there, it was quite impressive and I loved it. It was the best Valentines day to date, and the boys at the centre made cards and gave roses to all of us girls.

Tuesday: Went to South hall aka "Little India" for class. We ate at an Indian restaurant and went to an Indian Sikh. It was really just quite interesting, we sat with those scarves over our heads, our shoes off, on a white carpet, cross-legged, and listened to this chant type music thing (not really sure what they were saying/singing). I felt like I was Julia Roberts in eat-pray-love.

Wednesday: Went to the London temple and can I just say it was a spiritual highlight in my life. I am so glad I went; it was the best temple experience I have had to date.

Thursday: Went on a walk which was quite fun, and then that night a group of us went and saw Phantom of the Opera. This was my second time seeing this show in London; I saw it about 5 years ago with my family, and I loved it just as much this time. The night wouldn't be complete without dessert.

Friday: Went to Hampton Court (King Henry the 8th had it built) and it is BEAUTIFUL. I absolutely loved the gardens. We then went to Charles Darwin's home/exhibit and it was really cool. My sister Kelley would have loved it. Then later a few of us went to see Westminster lit up at night and then got crepes. Naturally.

 

Saturday: Went to Camden Market (What A Girl Wants status), I will now be spending every Saturday there. I love it. SO MUCH GOOD FOOD THERE.

Not one of my finer moments

So for art class we had to go to this museum (the Dulwich Picture Gallery) and boy that trip might go down as one of the most embarrassing moments in my life to date, and trust me I have my fair share of embarrassing moments; refer here for a reminder. Anyway,  about two weeks ago in art class my teacher told us that it takes about an hour to get to the museum, and to plan to go when we have plenty of time. She also told us that the museum is closed on Mondays. Well 2 weeks later I decided to be efficient and go on Monday when I don't have class and have plenty of time. Yes, 'you' read correctly I decided to go the day she told us it was closed; 1st moral of the story: listen in class. Okay so Lyse and I are taking the trek out to the gallery (apparently she didn't listen either), and after an hour on the tube we got off at our stop, which was also the last stop on that line. We were then supposed to take the P4 bus another 20 minutes to the gallery. Since it was a new area to both of us, we weren't quite sure what we were doing or where the buses were. We came out of the tube stop and low and behold the P4 was right there; it was perfect timing so we ran to catch the bus, but right then the bus driver stared at us and started pulling away. We gave him a disgusted look, as we thought was deserved, and this kind man stopped and said, "where are you going?" to which we replied "The Dulwich Picture Gallery." He then smiled and said, "this is the last stop on the route, cross the street and I will loop around and pick you up where the route begins." We nodded said "thank you" and ran across the street. He then looped around and picked up about 20 people where the route began. As we were getting on the bus he gave us a thumbs up and was nodding and pleased that we made it on the right bus. Feeling a little embarrassed by our lack of navigation skills, we quickly sat down. About 15 minutes out we realized we weren't really sure which stop to get off at, so when it said Dulwich Village Stop we decided that it sounded about right and to get off there. As we got off the bus we looked at the map and decided to start walking up the street. BUT the bus driver recognized us as the girls who were going to the Dulwich Picture Gallery, and he stopped the bus. Lyse and I somewhat noticed out of the corner of our eyes but we just kept walking. He then proceeded to honk the horn, we sheepishly turned around and looked. He motioned us to come back, and with our heads down full of shame we walked back. He opened the door and said, "you're headed to the Dulwich Picture Gallery eh?" We nodded and he said "you got off on the wrong stop, get back on." About a 2 minute walk down the road was the right stop and over the speaker he said, "girls this is your stop." (As I'm typing this it doesn't sound too embarrassing, but mind you, he stopped a bus full of people, honked, and the whole bus waited for 2 stupid American girls to get back on the bus they had just gotten off). Feeling really dumb at that point we got off and he pointed and said, "the gallery is right there" we replied with thank yous and went on our way. When we crossed the street we saw a sign outside the gallery that said closed. REALLY?? After all that? You have to be kidding. Well I guess we should head back... We turn around to get on the bus and the next bus started approaching a few minutes later. Guess who it was... the same bus driver as before. He's like the omnipotent bus driver. Well there was no way in Hell we were going to get back on that bus and look like idiots, so we started walking down the street. Well we were trying to cross the street, but we had the stopping man and had to wait. Lyse ran across the street during the stop sign (it was a roundabout) and she almost died. Really though. Anyway, we were now separated and all of the sudden that same bus driver pulled up next to us and was stopped at the same red light. Mind you this is a small town and I'm 100% positive he recognized us. I started running the other way and hid from him. Seriously I needed to catch a break and not be humiliated. After the coast was clear, we walked to a near by store and went in while waiting for the next bus. BINGO, this store was golden, it was stocked full of laundry detergent (which we desperately needed), Reeses, Hershey's cookies and cream, and Stroop Waffles; 3 of the best foods known to man. At least Dulwich had that store to offer me. Anywho as we were coming out of the store, the bus we were supposed to get on drove by... 15 minutes later we caught the next bus, which luckily didn't have the same bus driver on it. As we got on the bus I finished off this humiliating day by biffing it on the bus in front of the rest of the bus. It's fine, nothing was bruised too badly, besides my ego.

Lyse in front of the closed gallery.

Oh and in case this story isn't embarrassing enough-- today I sneezed while we were at Hampton Court and it echoed REALLY REALLY loudly, and my professor turns around and says "was that Hagrid?" in front of everyone. I'll admit it was a bit funny. But mostly just embarrassing.

That one time we saw Voldemort's grave...

It all started with this...

Yes, a toilet seat. Well let me back up a little, it really started with this...

After visiting the Elephant House, because that is where Harry Potter was born, we decided to eat there for dinner. Okay back to the toilet. When I got to the restaurant I really had to go to the bathroom. So I entered the bathroom and boy, I did not realize what I was about to get into. I sat there for like 10 minutes reading the walls because all sorts of things were written on the walls (things like I aparated here, I punched Draco, Dumbledore's army etc). Well I came out of the bathroom and immediately told everyone else they had to go in. Well Laura followed suit and went in there. She came across directions to "Tom Riddle's" grave on the walls. Since she's obsessed with cemeteries she quickly wrote down the directions and came out and told us that after dinner we need to go there. Sooo after dinner we did exactly that. There is this cemetery right behind the Elephant House called Greyfriars cemetery. The caretaker of the cemetery waits outside at 9 o'clock at night in the pitch black with a dimly lit cigarette and says "you may come in." Creeepy. Well right then and there Blake freaked and didn't want to go in, because he said we won't be able to find it in the dark. It didn't stop the rest of us so we went in, and ya know he followed. The whole time he was creepin' me out and it didn't sound like a good idea anymore. I mean we were looking for Volde- I mean he who shall not be named's grave in the dark in some strange cemetery. But Laura's directions didn't fail us and we made it, snapped some quick pics and headed out. On the way out the caretaker started shaking the gate and I was afraid he was about to pop out with an axe so I booked it out of there and left the rest behind. Let's just say it was a creepy evening that was rewarded with deep fried candy bars.

Cheers, from Scotland

...well technically I'm not in Scotland anymore, but we can pretend.  I'm sorry I have have been lacking on the blog posts, but not having a computer a for a few days will do that. So back to Scotland...it was probably the coolest place I've ever Ever EVER been. Really though, I don't know if I've had more fun in my life. Thursday was probably the best day (well to this point, I expect it can be trumped on future trips to Paris, Wales, Ireland, Northern France, Belgium, Italy and Greece but we'll see). Well we left the centre at 6:55 am on Wednesday to head to Kings cross to take a train to Scotland. You can't get much more Harry Potter like than that (well at least according to Blake) but little did he know it got way more Harry Potter ish looking for Tom Riddle aka Voldemort's grave in the cemetery in the dark (story to come).  Recap of the past few days in Scotland.

Wednesday: Edinburgh Castle, tons and tons of tartan and shops, St. Giles Cathedral, mac and cheese, and a traveling production of Annie at the Playhouse.

Thursday: Hiking King Arthur's Seat, Palace of Holyroodhouse, Scottish Parliament, more shops, People's museum--weird, 3 cemetery's (one where Tom Riddle resides, the another where Adam smith does) Laura has a fetish with cemetery's, Green Hill Far away aka Calton Hill, The Chocolate Soup, The Elephant House, and deep friend candy bars.

Friday: Arriving in New Lanark, New Lanark tour and the Annie McCloud exhibit (creepier than Voldemort's grave-- she was a ghost telling us all we are the future while riding on the seats that are like at the Haunted Mansion, it's an attraction that Disneyland definitely needs to add), hiking to a waterfall, arriving in Stirling, going to Stirling Castle, Maddy and I ditching the castle to go get scones, us being stranded alone in Stirling for 6 hours. Don't you worry we filled our time with scones, milkshakes (kinder bueno and Caramel Cadbury very very good), multiple bathroom stops, going to the mall and realizing it everything closes at 5:30, getting kicked out of H&M and the ice cream parlor, going to the cinema to see Tangled, going to Nando's, and then hiking the hill in the rain at 10 o'clock at night wondering where the heck we are in this strange town.

Saturday: Went to the Wallace Monument, hiked the Wallace monument, got on the bus headed back to Edinburgh and went to the Train station to take the Train back home to London. Nearly 7 hours later we were home (only because our Train was stranded somewhere for 2 hours without movement) that is all.

Oh and I arrived home to this:

I am a happy happy girl, what a great week. Oh and in case any of you are wondering, yes I did try Haggis.

Funny

I have yet to regret sleeping or taking a nap in my life time. Until a few weeks ago, when I slept on the bus ride home from Cambridge. This is why. I highly suggest you read it, everyone and their dog has already. My good friend Jamie wrote her experience about that evening on her blog, and can I just say I wish I was Megan that day.

On a side note, Saturday night a group of us went to Chinatown for Chinese New Years-- it was fun!

Then Jamie, Brittney, and I bailed on Chinese food and went to Ed's (an American Diner). Great decision on our part.

At Chinese New Year...I'm peeping the back.

Jamie and I at Ed's

I'm going to Scotland in a few hours WOO!

Change

A lot of people don't like change, because it's always nice to have familiarity and comfort. BUT I love change, I always have. I think it's just so exciting wondering what will happen next, and where life will take you. Coming to London has been a change and I have loved every second of it.  My good friend Brooke shared this mormon message video on her blog and I loved it.

She also shared this one:

Aren't they just so inspiring? That last one made me cry...that kind of change would be exceptionally hard.

Last week I taught young womens and the lesson was on opposition. I shared this video with my class (you can subscribe to the podcasts for free on itunes).

Anyway I just love these videos. Happy Sunday!

Hiking

For all those who know me know I loathe hiking, camping, really anything too outdoorsy (besides swimming and laying on the beach). But since I've moved to London I have this new found love for the outdoors-- weird, I know. It's like I've finally had a transcendentalist moment or something. I really just can't get enough of the outdoors. So on Wednesday this old man named George took us study abroad students on a 9 mile countryside "hike" (it was more of a walk, except for one part) in the English countryside, and I absolutely LOVED it. I'm planning on doing some camping/hiking trips this summer when I get back, since Utah is one of the best places to hike. 

 

 

 

 

Then Thursday after classses a group of us went to Jersey Boys, and we all loved it. There is strong language in it, but the music was phenomenal. I love Franky Valli and the 4 seasons (they sounded just like them) I know my dad would have loved it. Except there was this really REALLY drunk older lady behind us she was shouting the words to every song and dancing--the usher had to come over and tell her to be quiet, it was quite embarrassing on her part. 

Yesterday, another group of us did a Harry Potter sight seeing tour. We just walked around London and saw some sights where they filmed parts of the movie. Most of the sights I had already seen from when I did some walks around London (Diagon alley was the Borough Markets, Gringotts was the Australian embassy etc etc).

Gringotts

Ministry of Magic