I'm so fancy. You already know. I'm in the fast lane, from H-town to London-o!

When planning a trip, know your audience. What are the *must see* items? Is everything a must see item or are the people you with more relaxed tourists who don't care if you see everything? Are the people really into seeing iconic tourist things or experiencing the life of just enjoying *being* there? Do they like history? Do they like tours? Do they like museums? Art, history, or both? This was our itinerary for three days in London that will accommodate a mixed group of people who've already been to London and those who are there for their first time, with an emphasis on Harry Potter fun. We did not accomplish everything on our list because I was with relaxed travelers.

Day 1:
- Tower of London - £21.45
- Camden Town
- Platform 9 ¾
- 221B Baker Street
- Trafalgar Square
- Wander London
- St-Dunstan-in-the-East
- Millennium Bridge- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince opens with a dramatic sequence of the London Millennium Footbridge collapsing. A pedestrian-only steel suspension bridge crossing River Thames, the Millennium Bridge links Bankside with the City and offers dramatic views of St Paul’s Cathedral as you walk from the south side to the north.
- Buckingham Palace

- Big Ben

- London Eye

- Westminster Abbey
- Redemption Bar (non-alcoholic bar)

Day 2:
- 10am Brunch at Mr Buckley’s

- 1pm Church. 2:50 Sacrament service. London YSA Ward.
- Little Venice, London- The affluent district of South Maida Vale is is interspersed with picturesque waterways and the area where the Grand Union and Regent’s Canals meet is affectionately known as Little Venice
- Covent Gardens
- Dinner with England family

Day 3:
- Harry Potter Studio Tour+Audio Tour £35.00. Train: London Euston to Watford Junction (20 minute journey) A shuttle bus, operated by Mullany's Coaches runs from Watford Junction to the Studio Tour, with a journey time of around 15 minutes. Plan to arrive at Watford Junction 45 minutes before the time stated on your ticket, and have your ticket or booking confirmation ready when boarding the shuttle bus.

- Leadenhall Market 10am - 6pm, Monday to Friday - Leadenhall Market in the City of London was used as Diagon Alley in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. The entrance to wizard’s pub, the Leaky Cauldron, is an optician in Bull’s Head Passage in Leadenhall Market. Leadenhall is a superb example of a Victorian covered market with an ornate painted roof.
- (Tube: Bank) and approach the storefront at 42 Bull's Head Passage — the entrance to The Leaky Cauldron pub
- 7:30pm Les Miserables- Queen’s Theatre (everyone should do this. you can NEVER see Les Mis in West End too many times. Seriously)

Other suggestions:

- Tate Modern (art museum)
- British Museum. You could spend DAYS here.
- The British Library
- Victoria & Albert Museum (art and design museum)
- Imperial War Museum
- Madam Tussaud's Wax Museum
- walk through Hyde Park
- find the Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens
- Abbey Road (for Beatles fans)
- Jack the Ripper Tour
- High tea at St Paul's Cathedral Crypt
- Beyonce Dance Class

Everyone on their electronics

Now onto the trip!
Rule #1. It's hard, but you have to get on a sleeping schedule or you'll suffer from jet lag longer than you want. Don't go to bed before 10pm each night, and wake up at 8am the first 2 days at least. This will help you get over jetlag ASAP. Don't nap whenever you sit down because it will throw off your internal clock. You want to be exhausted when you go to sleep because you want to be able to sleep through the night. Otherwise, you'll be able to fall asleep but wake up super early due to jet lag. 

Rule #2. Stay off your electronics, especially your phone! You're on vacation!

The Tower of London is *ALWAYS* a good idea. Saryah goes here all the time. It's a little strange. I don't think you can come here enough. The beefeaters (the guys in uniform) are always the best tour guides. I don't know how they do it, but you fall in love with them! Coolest people ever. The story of the two princes is always a fan favourite.

I wish this photo wasn't as fuzzy as it is....but I love it! There is an official queue up to this spot to take a photo. There are official people there taking photos that you can buy later, but you don't have to. They will let you take your own photos. We probably waited 30-45 minutes in line, but after we got through, the line doubled in size. Poor Erica, I was grilling her on the exact angle and time to take the picture so I could get the perfect photo. I'm intense.

 I just want to shout out to the guy in this photo who went to a crepe stand in Camden Town and just had them give him strawberries drizzled with Nutella, hold the crepe. Way to go stranger!

 The sun never sets on the British Empire. I love this poster. We were at brunch, and I felt so patriotic. #brits

Sunday was a relaxing day to walk around. We went out to Covent Gardens for a nice stroll and cool shake, since it was so hot out. Before heading over to Kate's for Sunday dinner. I adore Kate! Ben and Rachel drove down to see us too. I love family time in England! Especially when Ben and Saryah do yoga together. As we always say, a family who does yoga together, stays together.

Okay, let's be real. I'm such a Harry Potter nerd, I really just want to post all the pictures I took during the HP Studio Tour. I've been wanting to do this tour since the moment I heard it was going to open. I tried to back in 2012, but the weekend I booked, the studio was closed for some unknown reason. I'm still angsty about it.  You start off in this line to get you pumped. You then enter a standing room to see a video getting you excited. Then you sit in movie theater seats to see this little introduction video. No lie: I cried. No lie: Erica cried too. Words cannot describe how much Harry Potter has meant to me in my life, even though I tried to explain it once. 

 Wow. Could this lighting be any more beautiful?!?! Natural lighting forever! This is the back set. I have officially walked where the HP cast has walked. I loved every moment of it. Erica had her first butterbeer here.

Knight Bus! All Aboard!!!!!!!!!!!

Welcome to Diagon Alley

They say the Mirror of Erised would show the happiest person a reflect of themselves, exactly as they are. I can tell you, I was probably the happiest person alive when I was there. The Mirror showed true. #fangirl

I could have done the whole thing again, but Erica and Saryah were tired and hungry. We went back into London to have some fish and chips for dinner before Les Miserables (my favourite!!!)  The whole cast brought their A-game, and I was eternally grateful. Next stop...Paris.

London, My Love

So after work on friday I had a car take me to the train station and I went into London. I got there around...7ish and found my hotel. I realized I accidentally booked a room with a communal shower and bathroom. UGH! (ironic i'm complaining because i love hostels, but when you're not planning on staying at a hostel, it's not a fun surprise)  because i was so annoyed, i yelled at the guy and literally stormed off. I'm so embarrassed by my behaviour. it's terrible. So to feel better, I went shopping. I found black skinny jeans that fit like a gem! I bought some gifts for peoples, and for myself...and ate some food. after that I felt super better! I walked back to the hotel with a new attitude and a new bounce in my step. On the walk back, I saw this beautiful view, and knew it was going to be a glorious weekend.

I was walking home Friday night and knew that I had to
take a pic for Christine

You know how I know God exists?
A cupcake stand in the middle of a store
He loves me *that* much

On Saturday, I woke up super early. Did a bit of shopping and found some more wonderful things to buy. My friend Christine told me to walk around with a camera and take lots of pics...so i decided to wander to the touristy areas to take pics. It was crazy. Tourists are ridiculous. There were some moments I just wanted to take pictures of the weird things the tourists were doing instead of the monument I was supposed to be looking at. It was cool. Gotta love London. I went back to drop off my winnings for the day and headed out to the theatre. Don't ask me why, but I incorrectly wrote down where the theatre house was, so I thought it was at the very end of the black line. Luckily, that end was not working on Saturday, so I got off in Camden Town. Then I remembered...hey, i think it's near here and i wrote it down wrong! I was correct and managed to get there in time, with time enough to run to the sainsbury's across the street for a quick sandwich and milk, with a galaxy chocolate muffin (why not, right?) The Twelfth Night was awesome! (even thought I had to close my eyes at one part during the portrayal of Malvolio because he was dressed a little scandalously to show his love for Olivia. so awkward) Then, I finally remembered the street with all the shops on it (i had been wracking my brain all day trying to remember). I went to Oxford Street. It's always a good thing when the first thing you see coming out of a tube station is a Top Shop. Oh happy day. It was ridiculously crowded in the store, and in the streets, and everywhere. But there was a cupcake stand inside of the TopShop!!! Woot! It's genius really. Cupcakes and Shopping. Two fun things in life, put together. So I was super exhausted from the day and decided to go eat. Except I couldnt remember where any food was, except in Leicester Square. So I got there to realize that there was still time to buy a ticket and go see Les Mis! It was sold out. Bah humbug. Then I wanted a salad for dinner. All the places didnt have a salad I wanted. So i got a slice of pizza and ate it in the nice little grassy area. As I was leaving, I saw a group of teens walking around with a cardboard cutout of Lucius Malfoy. Good times.

Sunday was WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hopped on the train to visit my England mummy and sister, Kate and Rachel. They picked me up from the station and we went to church. It was a great meeting with great fun. Then we went home where a Galaxy bar was waiting for me on counter top. TRUE LOVE! (in case it hasn't clicked yet, i have a wicked sweet tooth)  That's why Kate is the best. She helps me get my chocolate fix. Last time I was here, we went to Tesco where there was no judgement when I got a giant box of Galaxy bars to take home for me and the fam. True Love. Lol. We spend a wonderful evening together catching up. Being awesome together (one of our fav pastimes). Ben even came over, Rachel's fiancée, so I could meet him. I got to ask super nosey questions for fun. Rachel was telling him that he's escaped their whole relationship without dealing with that, as she's an only child, so I was finally coming to do my sibling-ly duty of making sure he has good intentions :) It was awesome. He's cool. I'm excited for the eternity of friendship and visiting each other we all have in front of each other. Can't wait for the wedding either! We watched the England v. Italy match together. It was terrible. I wanted to kill England for sucking so badly. My heart was aching. Seriously. The only one who knew what was going on was Andy Carroll. As a matter of fact, he's my new favourite player. I don't like Rooney anymore. I may have to throw away my Rooney jersey. Bah humbug. I liked Hart too until he missed all those penalty shots. But it's good. Italy played better.

The view from the window in our conference room this week.
How can we be working on a beautiful day like this?

But now I'm in Surrey, working in a conference room in a swanky hotel till Wednesday when I get to fly back to my flat in Germany. This is the view from our conference room window. Amazing. I got lost getting to my room it's so big. No really. One of the workers was showing me where it was and we got lost. It was so awkward. I got to Skype Marijn tonight and I can't wait to hang out with the guys again.
Other things I'm looking forward to? 
-doing laundry. I bought detergent here in England so I wouldn't have to figure out the differences between all of them in German.
-finding hangers
-Friday night :)

My Life's Constant

Moment in time: Germany just kick Greece's butt and is on their way to the semi-finals in the Euro Cup. Woot.

I've been wanting Union Jack shoes for YEARS
they didnt have them in my size :(

It's been a long week. I was sent to Redditch for the week to work on a new project. It is interesting and fun. And I'm pretty sure I suggested that we all have a meeting in two weeks in a different part of Germany, so i'm going to have to travel again. Which means, Redditch this week. and i'm in London for the weekend because it was pointless to fly to Munich only to turn around and fly back for my project meeting in London next week. Then my suggested trip to one part of Munich and then the following week i'll be in Schopfheim, Germany (which is where Germany, Switzerland, and France meet up). With all the travelling, I'm finally understanding what my dad would say when he got back from business trips. I would always ask, "what did you see?!?!?!" and he would say "not much, I go to work, eat dinner, and then back to the hotel". I never understood why he didn't have tons of time to sight-see. i get it now.

With all this travel, my new motto is "home is where my suitcase is". For the past four Sundays I've been travelling. These are the locations because some one asked earlier.

1. New Zealand to Texas
2. Texas to Missouri
3. Missouri to Germany
4. Germany to England

When I was in New Zealand, Saryah thought it was weird (and probably a little annoying) with how I wanted to go to church every Sunday and then something would happen so we couldn't and I would be upset. Luckily on my last Sunday there, I was leaving in the evening, so Saryah & I were able to make it to sacrament. It was amazing. I was so overwhelmed with how peaceful and wonderful it was to be at church. 

When I landed in Germany, I literally put my stuff in my flat, had a 5 minute shower and left to try and find the church. When I saw it I just burst into smiles. I was smiling all through the German meeting. Luckily, they had someone translating, but I was trying not to giggle as I attempted to sing the hymns in German. It was wonderful. Then I went back that night for a Young Single Adults (YSA) dinner they were having. Then I went back for the YSA Family Home Evening on Monday night. One of the girls saw me there and said "you've been here two days and have already come to church 3 times" to which one person said "she has her priorities straight".  

When I flew into London on Sunday, I made sure to get a train ticket that would give me enough time to go to church before having to head off to Redditch. I was in a state of bliss the whole time I was in church. I was able to answer questions, sing my fav songs, and love life.

I don't talk about this to show you that I'm obsessed with going to church or that I'm creepy weird. I did these things because with all the crazy moving, living out of a suitcase, being in a different place, and always meeting new people...there is one constant in my life. Always. No matter where I am or what's going on in my life, the gospel of Jesus Christ and His church is there, and it's the same no matter what country or language it is. The Holy Spirit is there, testifying of the truths that are being taught. There is a peace that enters into my soul when I walk through the doors. It realigns me after a week of awkward moments or complete cluelessness or exhaustion. It doesn't matter where I am in the world or whether or not I speak the language, the Spirit has no language barriers, and I know I'm surrounded by people who feel the same way. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the same no matter where you or I are in the world, and I know that it is Christ's church.