Something New

I had lobster for the first time ever!!

Ari took me out to the oh-so fancy Villandry cafe, and it was delicious! 

Lobster was good. Honestly not life-changing for me personally- but here's to me being more risky?

p.s. we watched a tonne.. A TONNE of Hart of Dixie!! It's a show about a doctor from New York and starts out like one of those cute shows and before you know it you're eating ice-cream and watching the 300th episode at 2 am. I'm not mad about it though.

Tour Guide Barbie

So one of my favorite people from BYUI took a family trip to London this month! This meant that I got to show off my skills in being a tour guide! We had such an amazing time, and one of my favorite things about showing other people around, is getting to rediscover the city myself. 

I hope that Michelle and her family had as much fun as I did walking around this perfect city of mine.

We started the day off with a double rainbow. You can't go wrong with one of them can you.

Her first Wagamama experience. Scrummmmyy.

We literally hit up about 12 of these. I wanted everything.

Maybe I accidentally took Michelle to Primark. Maybe we were there for two hours. Maybe her brother hated me for it. 

But overall such an amazing day and so so good to spend with Michelle and her family!!

Happy.

Ok well, without even the slightest hint of an exaggeration, today was quite literally the greatest day of my life. 

Today is Valentines Day and despite the fact that I celebrated it by spending most of the day caring for a shaky 6 year old and watching Disney Jr, I felt love more immensely than I ever thought possible. 

It's not everyday that you literally read nine words that mean that all of your hopes and dreams have come true. But today was that day for me.

I have spent 18 years of my life knowing- KNOWING- exactly what I wanted. I have always wanted to be the best person I could be, have a family, and pursue a career in medicine. Those three things. In that order. Throughout life there are things that introduce doubt, fear and feelings of inadequacy and these feelings can stop you from achieving the things in life that you want the most- but with a lot of support from some of the best people, and unwavering faith in the Lord, you can literally do anything. Even the three little things on your life list that you wrote when you were four.

My entire life is proof of that. 

Today is the day that I saw that proof on a screen- in those nine words.

Item number three on the list seems to be in motion, friends! I don't mean to be all weird and cryptic, but I feel that if I just blurt stuff out, it won't happen. 

It all started right here.

And I'm excited for all the adventures that await me in the lovely Northern city of Leeds.

Today I'm happy.

Love Month

Ahhh London doesn't seem to be very good for my blog life for some reason!

I think because as mentioned before, I've been trying to get things in order, and I've actually been playing mama a lot lately. 

I have a new found appreciation and respect for the ladies that do the school run EVERY DAY. 

Seriously. That's a lot of traveling and running around the city- getting two kids to different schools in different places in a tiny time window. 

But it's been fun. 

A lot of parents give me the "Poor girl has two kids at the age of 17 look" (Curse my baby-ish face) but we always have fun adventures on the way home.

That, however doesn't take away from the fact that this is LOVE MONTH!!! One of the best months of the year, because despite the wretched weather, people are in the mood to make other people happy. It is the month of service and love, and the general aim is to please someone else. 

What a great season to be in.

Over the past few years, this month has always been a reminder of singledom- but this year it's just a reminder of how happy I am with my life and the way that it's going! 

Single or not, I've always LOVED Valentine's Day. It's mostly consisted of a lot of baking with friends and I can't wait to spend it with the people I love the most this year!!!

January is the Monday of the year.

Not to be a Debbie or anything, but seriously. 

Christmas is over, it's cold and wet and windy and rainy, your New Years Revolutions usually don't make it to February, and there aren't any festive holidays in January.

[Of course the exception to all of this is if you have a birthday in January. I wouldn't dare impose on anybody's love of their birthday month, because I realize how important that is]

BUT I always find myself just having to get through January. It's an awful attitude, but it's just the way it goes.

As with most Mondays, you know that you should feel perky and ready for a new week (or in our case year), but when it actually comes around, you don't find that you're really that prepared for anything.

Yesterday marks one month since I arrived back in London. One month into my new life. This month has brought a lot of experiences that I've been all too familiar with (spending what seems like YEARS in the library in preparation for medic related stuff) and some experiences that have been new. Trying to find my feet, move countries, figure out what I'm doing with the next seven months/five years of my life and getting used to a totally new home environment can be slightly arduous.

However, in attempt to turn this around, sometimes you just have to throw on a giant red polka dot onesie, drink your 40 calorie per cup Cadbury Highlights and treat yourself to some heaven-sent cupcakes from Hummingbirds Bakery.

You also just have to think about the rest of the year.
With every Monday comes a Friday.
And a Saturday.
And a Sunday.
Wednesdays come too and they can be quite fun sometimes.
As can most Thursdays- it's all "ooohh it's nearly Friday"... you know? 

Some great things happened this January, just like sometimes good things happen on Mondays. But it's exciting to think of better days to come and reasons to find joy. My favorite quote is still "Come What May and Love It"and I really am loving it. 

But this is just to kind of explain the lack of blogging this month ha! 

Well onto bigger and better things. 

So Happy Monday. 

lately

Recent(ish) activities snapped with the iPhone

Library sessions galore. GA-LORE. But I do LOVE my screensaver calendar from the fabulous Bobbi at Ready To Blog.

Thanks to the gorgeous Alexis Nilsson, her awesome food blog, and an amazingly kitted out kitchen, these lovelies were made and were delicious. 

Trying to get these two and the temple all in the same selfie was hard. But I can do hard things.

I got the chance to visit one of the best places on earth. Nothing makes me happier.

This bus also makes me happy. They're everywhere right now, and little do they know how awesome Mormons really are.

Other than a grilled cheese and tomato soup, this is the ultimate "i'm exhausted from this month and need to just rellaaaaxxx" snack.

Happy Days.

Sometimes a three year old wants to take selfies with you.

Hello all and Happy New Year!!

Hopefully the end of 2013 and the beginning of 2014 was as magical for you as it was for me. Lots of excitement and changes happened for me, that you'll probably hear about as time goes on, but the biggest one is probably the fact that I completed my move from the US to the UK. 

A pretty big move, yes, but a great one, and I'm excited for all that the future will bring.

Meanwhile, here are some snaps from my last day in America. I wouldn't rather have spent it anywhere else.

Oh... He's into the whole selfie thing.