Yep. I'm stealing Amber's blog idea, too. But this is a little different, I guess, because I found this one on tumblr and it's only 26 questions. 

1. The person I like and why I like them: I don’t have a real proper crush on anyone at the moment, although I had my eye one of the guys working at the hostel where we stayed in London. In other words, someone I barely knew at all. I don’t even know his name, so I called him Man-Bun in my head. He just seemed kind, and sweet.

2. A famous person I’ve been compared to: Deborah Winger, because I laugh like her. And Ed Norton, because I apparently looked like him when I dressed as a creepy man for a movie Victoria and I made. Also Anne Hathaway...in The Princess Diaries, pre-makeover. I think it’s the hair. But I’ll take any comparison to Anne Hathaway, honestly.

3. 5 things that irritate me about the same sex/opposite sex:
Caution: Generalizations ahead! 
Same sex: 1 – Girls can be really judgmental 2 – So many girls have low self-esteem and don’t see how great they are 3 – When girls focus so much more on guys than anything else in life 4 – When girls play dumb to get a guy to like them (like, how is that a good idea???) 5 – Being competitive with other girls instead of just getting along
Opposite sex: 1 – They make bathrooms gross 2 – Male pride  3 – The way they spit  4 – “The Friend Zone” 5 – When they won’t man up and make the first move
It was a lot easier to think of irritating things about guys. lol

4. The best thing that has happened to me this week: Sitting front row center in the audience at Romeo and Juliet, and being pointed out by Benvolio while he was telling Romeo (Fra!!!) to check out other girls. They were so close to me. They were staring RIGHT AT ME. It was heavenly. Even when Fra made an “ughh” face and then Benvolio had to clean off his glasses to take a better look, which was hilarious.

5. Weird things I do when I’m alone: Talk to myself in different accents/sometimes as different characters. Sing. A lot. And dance. And make up songs. 

6. How I’d spend ten thousand bucks: I shouldn't say theatre tickets….No, honestly, I’d probably give some to my parents, and some to the church, and then I’d try to live off the rest of it in London for as long as I could. Or use it to travel the world! ............or theatre tickets….

7. Things I like and things I don’t like about the way I look: I both like and dislike my hair. Usually I like it, but that depends on what it’s doing. I like my figure and my complexion. I don’t like how hairy I am (other than my hair hair). I am a very hairy woman.

8. My last night out in detail: Depends on what you mean by “out.” I went to a play the other night. But you just heard about that a couple of questions ago. I also got rained on. But Jill said I looked cinematic, and I enjoy getting rained on, so it was okay. 

9. Something that makes me sad when I think about it: When I see flyers about missing animals I get really sad, knowing somebody’s pet is out there all alone and lost. :’(

10. Something I’ve lied about: The first thing that comes to mind (since Jill always brings it up) is having a crush on Nathaniel freshman year. I kept that secret for a good long while. Sorry guys.

11. Would I rather be stranded on a desert island with someone I love for ten years or someone I hate for a month? Explain why. : With someone I hate for a month, because I could get off the island sooner, duh! Plus there aren’t really very many people I hate, if any. I mean, I don’t hate anyone I know personally, although one person I have hated in the past, but not anymore. Who do I hate? I hate terrorists. I wouldn’t want to be stuck on an island with one of them, because I’d probably die. But if I were guaranteed to live the entire month and then get off the island, I’d pick whoever it is that I supposedly hate. Plus, maybe after a month alone with said person, we could be friends instead of enemies. It’s worth a shot.

12. Something I’m currently worring about: Where should I start?! Money, jobs, internships, bank accounts, immigration offices, etc.

13. One person from tumblr I’d throw off a cliff, one I’d marry, and one I’d…never mind: Sometimes I’d like to throw half of tumblr off a cliff, to be quite honest. Marry? Hmm…Tom Butler has a tumblr. Yeah….

14. Something I do without realizing: Well, if I realized it, I’d know, wouldn’t I?

15. Lyrics that apply to my current situation/mood: "I don't know what I want/So don't ask me/'Cause I'm still trying to figure it out/Don't know what's down this road/I'm just walking/Trying to see through the rain pouring down"  That's right. Going old-school Taylor Swift on ya!

16. A drunken story: Since I’ve never been drunk, I guess I can’t answer this one the way the question would expect. But also, I’m apparently really bad at telling the difference between drunk and just really friendly, so when I met Daniel Vincent Gordh and Allison Paige (Darcy and Gigi from LBD) at Vidcon, I thought they were super interested in chatting and that was awesome and they were SO FRIENDLY and bubbly and fun. Later Jill or Rachael or someone informed me that they were actually quite tipsy. My bad. They were still super nice. So there’s a drunken story (sort of).

17. Something I regret: Not asking Ben Gunderson out for donuts. #GrantaireDonutFund

18. Post a picture of myself:

<-- 


(I saw this movie today. Be jealous!)


19. My longest relationship and who it was with: Nathaniel, 2-3 months? However, the city of London and I have had an on-again, off-again thing for the past three years, and I’d say it’s my true lover. ;)

20. Press ctrl v and post
That would literally be this questionnaire, because I did it on a Word document.

21. Post a bit of my last IM convo
ghetto st patrick, yo
y'all snakes get out the hizzle

22. 5 things I want to change
-The fact that I don’t have a job
-The fact that I’m not a published author
-The fact that I don’t live in London
-How hot it is in this room
-My socks

23. My view on being tumblr famous: At just 87 followers, I am far from tumblr famous.

24. Someone I’d like to be for a day and why: Can you all guess who I’d be? I bet you can. If you said Carrie Hope Fletcher, you’re very predictably correct. Why? Too many reasons to count, but here’s 3: She lives in a purple flat in London, she’s Eponine every night and twice on Wednesdays, and she has the most beautiful hair in the world! 

25. 5 things within touching distance: Bible, Enjolras jacket, watch, laptop charger, pillow

26. Story of my first kiss: On campus, between FAC and the library. With Nathaniel shortly after we’d officially gotten together. Late afternoon. He asked permission to kiss me. 


So that's that. And here's a song for you guys because seriously, TOM BUTLER!

<3

Anna Beth

Hello from not Tuesday. Basically I feel like my domain is anywhere from Monday to Wednesday, hope you all don't mind.

For a small update, Anna Beth and I are currently in Dublin with our eyes on a few possibilities for places to live. Wish us luck.

I've decided to steal/share Amber's blog idea for this week, cuz it's both fun and I'm out of original blog style ideas for the moment. I grabbed one of the 100 truths notes from Facebook that I did back in High School and kept in the response from then so maybe we can laugh at young me. My current responses (or responses that haven't changed) are in bold. Hopefully this isn't too confusing.

001. Real name → Jillian Maureen Sensel
002. Nickname(s) → Jill, The Voice of Reason, Pumpkinhead -- Madame Reptilian, Fragile Cupcake
003. Status → Single
004. Zodiac Sign → Scorpio
005. Male or Female → Female
006. Elementary - Natcher Elementary School
007. Middle School → Drakes Creek Middle School
008. High School → Greenwood High School
010. Hair color → Brown
011. Long or short → Long
012. Loud or Quiet → Quiet
013. Sweats or Jeans → Jeans
014. Phone or Camera → how about a camera phone?  Phones are more practical but cameras are prettier. I guess Phone.
015 Health freak → pfft...no.  hahahaha
017. Do you have a crush on someone? → maybe...  Not unless you count celebrity crushes
018. Eat or Drink → eat or drink what? it depends.   Drink. Drink a soda. I don't get enough of those over here.

HAVE YOU EVER?
019. Been in an airplane→ Yes
020. Been in a relationship → No
021. Been in a car accident → Yes
022. Been in a fist fight → No

FIRSTS:
023. First piercing → none
024. First best friend → Mason
025. First award → can't remember
026. First crush → ...
028. First big vacation → Myrtle beach, SC

LASTS:
029. Last person you talked to → my mom. -  Anna Beth
030. Last person you texted → Shelby. -  Does the top-up text feature on pay-as-you-go cellphones count? If not, um, I can't find my phone at the moment and I'm too lazy to try. I think it's somewhere in the locker beneath my hostel bed? I hope so. I think the last text I sent was to AB asking where she was in the airport. Or maybe to my mom letting her know we landed safely.
031. Last person you watched a movie with → Cameron. -  I think the last movie I saw was the new Cinderella with my mom? Anna Beth are planning to see the new Avengers movie soon. It's out overhere already. It's out May 1st in the US right?
032. Last food you ate→ Trefoil girl scout cookies. -  Ham sandwich with some crisps and a pepsi.
033. Last movie you watched → Monty Python and the Holy Grail (on DVD) -  I think Cinderella maybe
034. Last song you listened to → Be My Escape by Relient K. - Beyond the Door, sung by Hadley Fraser
035. Last thing you bought → Girl scout cookies. -  Ham sandwich, lucky charms, and a pepsi.
036. Last person you hugged → Amber. - Last received hug was from Anna Beth. Last person I actively hugged was Suzanne.

FAVES:
037. Food → pizza.  Whatsits. and custard cremes. and pizza. and shrimp fried rice. and bread.
038. Drinks → root beer
040. Flower → Violets. White Roses
042. Colors → Blue, green, & silver
043. Movies → idk...i have a top 50 list. Yeah basically the same.
044. Subjects → currently it's Spanish. History

IN 2008 - [in 2015) - ..... I

045. [ ] - [ ] - kissed someone
046. [x] - [ ] - celebrated Halloween
047. [ ] - [?] - had your heart broken
048. [x] - [ ] - went over the minutes/texts on your cell phone
049. [ ] - [ ] - someone questioned your sexual orientation
050. [ ] - [ ] - came out of the closet
051. [ ] - [ ] - gotten pregnant  <-- side note: "I gotten pregnant"? lol
052. [ ] - [ ] - had an abortion
053. [x] - [x] - done something you've regretted
054. [ ] - [x, probably] - broke a promise
055. [x] - [x] - hid a secret
056. [ ] - [x] - pretended to be happy
057. [ ] - [met with again, I'd already met them technically] - met someone who changed your life
058. [ ] - [x] - pretended to be sick
059. [ ] - [x!!!] - left the country
060. [x] - [x] -tried something you normally wouldn't try and liked it
061. [x] - [ ] - cried over the silliest thing
062. [x] - [hahahaha, though I have walked many] - ran a mile
063. [ ] - [ ] - went to the beach with your best friend(s)
064. [ ] - [x] - got into an argument with your friends
065. [ ] - [] - hated someone      side note: who thinks hating someone and feeling hatred towards someone are different things?
066. [x] - [x] - stayed single the whole year

CURRENTLY:
067. Eating → no, - not currently eating
068. Drinking → no, - not currently drinking
069. I'm about to → watch TV, - post this blog
070. Listening to → TV in the background, - Youtube music playlist, currently on Knocking on Heaven's Door by RAIGN
071. For today → Went to school, -  Don't really get what this is asking for, but today I walked around Trinity College and Temple Bar as well as booked a slightly more permanent living space.
072. Waiting for → Conan O'brian's last 11:30 episode. -  So many things

YOUR FUTURE:
073. Want kids? → eventually.  Maybe
074. Want to get married? → yes
075. Careers in mind → doctor or vet.   aksjldfkjaslkdjflskjdflkds

WHICH IS BETTER WITH GIRL/BOY?
076. Lips or eyes → eyes
077. Shorter or taller?→ taller
078. Romantic or spontaneous → both,  Romantic
079. Nice stomach or nice arms → stomach
080. Sensitive or loud → sensitive
081. Hook-up or relationship → relationship
082. Trouble-maker or hesitant → hesitant,  either

HAVE YOU EVER:
083. Lost glasses/contacts → yes
084. Ran away from home → no
085. Held a gun/knife for self defense → no
086. Killed somebody → no
087. Broken someone's heart → probably not
089. Cried when someone died → yes

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:
090. Yourself → sure.  Sometimes
091. Miracles → yes.  Yes
092. Love at first sight → yes.  No
093. Heaven → Yes.  Yes
094. Santa Claus →no ( i saw the box for the tv 'from santa' in the garage one year. lol)  No
095. Sex on the first date →no.   no.
096. Kiss on the first date → sure.  yes.

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY:
097. Is there one person you want to be with right now? → well, I mean, Tom Hiddleston exists, so yeah.
098. Have you ever told anybody you loved them and meant it → no.  not in a romantic sense.
099. Do you believe in God → Yes
100. Will you post as 100 truths and tag 10 people →  No



Best Wishes,
Jill

Hello from St. George's Day, Shakespeare's birthday/death day, World Book Day, and publication day for Carrie Hope Fletcher's first book, All I Know Now. Today is a lot of things. It's also been the day when I found my new favorite place in London. But let's back it on up now, y'all.

As you read from Jill's blog on Monday/Tuesday, we've had a busy week and a half since we left the States. I know I can never come close to the beautiful, heart-wrenching recap of the week that Jill delivered, so I'm just going to hit a few highlights. Drum roll, please.........These are my top moments of the trip so far:

Time with the Paynes: Besides my own family, these people are my favorite family ever. Suzanne, Daniel, and their three boys are amazing.
Highlights:
-Wyatt, the nine-year-old, falling asleep on a car ride home with his head resting on my shoulder. Awww!!!
-Avebury and the surrounding countryside. Magic and trees and stones, oh my!
-Traveling to Wales and seeing three different castles and an old, ruined abbey. Castle Coch (and Daniel's pronunciation of it) was my favorite. It was like something straight out of a fairy tale!
-AIR RAID! At Cardiff Castle, we walked into an exhibit about WWII, and a siren started going off. So clearly Jill and I thought, "Oh, what a cool exhibit, complete with an air raid siren!" Nope. That--as an employee had to come in and tell us--was the fire alarm. The entire castle was evacuated to the courtyard. I felt sorry for the wedding party who were also at the castle that day. Maybe they lit too many candles?
-The Jane Austen historic walking tour that Jill and I took. We wandered through sheep pens. It was awesome.
-Finding the perfect tree necklace that I've been wanting for a long time, being too cheap to buy it at one store, then finding it cheaper and actually purchasing it somewhere else. #winning
-Wyatt scaling the outer wall of Castle Coch, then sliding down to Daniel, yelling "CATCH ME!!!"


London: 
-Getting an Oyster Card. Not only does it make more riding the Tube more economical, it also makes me feel like a proper Londoner!
-Seeing Les Miserables for the fourth time, with my favorite cast so far. You guys....I could go on for days about how much I love this cast! They were spectacular! I can't even. Plus, Jill and I made a new friend: a girl who was seated next to us and is just as obsessed with Les Mis as we are! We hung out at stage door, then walked back to the tube together, and now we're internet buddies!
-Finding the Music Room in the Victoria and Albert Museum. It was an entire room taken out of a lavish house, and the walls were all decked out in gold shinyness, and the room was lit with warm, artificial candlelight. I love the whole museum, don't get me wrong, but this room was such a comforting and beautiful atmosphere.
-Finding my new favorite place in London: Greenwich! Specifically, the grassy hill between the Maritime Museum and the Royal Observatory. Jill and I just chilled there on that beautiful hillside overlooking the Thames for quite a while today. Plus, we got to witness a group of German high school students and their teachers playing an odd game of charades. My personal favorite thing they acted out: Jack the Rapper. Not Jack the Ripper. No, a gangsta murderer called Jack the Rapper. There's really no explaining it. It was priceless, though.

Anyway, those are my highlights from the trip so far. I'm probably forgetting some, but for now, in honor of Shakespeare, St. George, and my love of Tom Hiddleston, here's a video I think you'll like:

[7 days ago]

It's Tuesday morning and I'm hurdling hundreds of miles an hour over the Atlantic Ocean. The space is too small and ill constructed to sleep in. I'm hungry and the tiniest bit nauseous.

It's Tuesday and I'm in another tiny compartment. I just want to be able to stretch my legs and not be sitting for a stretch of time. I'd take standing, but I would rather be horizontal honestly.  But the Easybus is the cheapest route to Waterloo station, even if it does take the longest time.

It's Tuesday and I'm free from confinement. It took longer than expected, but I'm finally in Alton with an amazing family. The kids came to meet us at the train station dressed as hobbits.

It's Tuesday and I'm watching gliders being launched overhead and children wrestling in the grass. I'm eating ice cream and am just on the edge of freezing. Hello England, I've missed you.

---

It's Wednesday morning and I'm riding with Suzanne to drop the boys off at MultiSports. I'm not sure what 'being in a different country' is supposed to feel like. Despite the several times I've been outside the US, nothing as yet as struck me the way in which I expect...not that I really know what to expect. But right now, life and people and things are more or less familiar.

It's Wednesday and Anna Beth and I are standing outside Eton College...because we're huge nerds. There's nothing much to see really. It's just a school and it's currently closed to the public, but it's cool and historic and some awesome people matriculated through this institute. We've only just walked about 10 minutes down the road from Windsor Castle where Suzanne took us to start our day. The Queen's flag was up, so she was there...somewhere.
I'm listening to Anna Beth tell me how her future sons will attend school here.

It's Wednesday night and the whole family is watching Captain America together. I love these kids.

---

It's Thursday morning and my butt is touching Stonehenge. Daniel booked us in for an up close experience with the stones. An ordinary pass will only get you to within 20 feet but behind a rope to section you off from the history. But we get to meander all around them and through them as much as we want. Of course, we're 'Not supposed to touch' ...buuuuuuutttttt. My butt. And my hands. And my feet. When the minders aren't looking, I'm getting my money's worth.

It's Thursday and I'm standing under a tree on the roots and branches of which there have been tied tons of ribbons of every color. Some have notes attached. One has a beaded heart.
It's Thursday and I'm standing on a hill surrounded by valleys of farmland and fields of blooming rapeseed.
It's Thursday and I'm inside a Neolithic burial mound. It echoes the thud of boots on stone. There's a call for a flashlight because someone thinks they've found cave paintings.

It's Thursday and I have no idea how to get across the things I've seen today in word or picture form. I think there is a certain depth to life that can't be understood in any form except experiencing it. You can get close. Words can do an excellent job of eliciting an emotion to connect one person's experience to another. Film too. But sometimes you don't have a well defined feeling about what you experience. You want so badly to be able to share this undefined feeling and you do sort of. But it's not the same.

It's Thursday night and as Anna Beth said, you just had to be there.

---

It's Friday morning and Anna Beth and I are about to set off on our own through the English countryside. Up to now we've mostly been under the minding of our surrogate English parents. Not that we've had constant chaperoning, but we also haven't had to do much of our own navigating outside London.

It's Friday and we've just walked through a field of sheep and nearly didn't realize. We're on a 'literary walk' around Chawton, Farringdon, and the countryside, and we were so busy talking that it didn't occur to us that the turnstyle thing we supposed to hop over (as instructed by our route map) led into a sheep grazing field...where sheep were currently grazing. That's something I love about England. It's basically okay to walk in a field of livestock as long as you don't mess with them.

It's Friday and we've been recruited by the boys help gather sticks so they can build a den in the woods. It surprisingly ends up being almost completed and well built.

---

It's Saturday morning and we're driving to Wales. Car trips with all the Paynes are the best.

It's Saturday morning and I only fear for my life about 3 times as Daniel drives to Wales. I thought I had gotten used to most aspects of the English roadway. I'd forgotten what it was like to ride with Daniel.

It's Saturday and we're walking in downtown Cardiff. This is the first time I've been in a big city with Suzanne and Daniel. It's sort of weird. I'm used to associating them with more small village England or small village Kenya.

It's Saturday night and I finally get to take as long a shower as I want without the risk of the water turning ice cold. I love staying with the Paynes, but sometimes the respite of a quiet hotel room is just lovely.

---

It's Sunday morning and it is absolutely freezing. What happened to my awesome yet unexpected sunny and warm England? Please come back! Or at least tell the wind to go away!

It's Sunday and I'm standing in a fairy tale castle.

It's Sunday and it's more hitting me that I'm in a different country. It's little things. Like having no idea what a cream tea is or still not figuring out what the zigzag lines on the road are supposed to represent.

It's Sunday night and I'm back in Alton. I don't want to leave tomorrow.

---

It's Monday morning and I've just gotten the news that Lillie, my dog, was hit by a car last night. She didn't make it.
Sometimes I worry myself with my lack of reaction. Is it so ingrained in my head to keep it in so no one can see? Is it some kind of survival instinct? Stay adaptable to any situation so nothing throws you? Or was I just prepared to never see Lillie again? She's old and I'll be gone up to a year. She led a good life. I made a point of spending time with her before I left.

It's Monday and I'm eating a sack lunch in Trafalgar Square. The sun is shining and warm. Anna Beth and I are keeping track of the number of selfie sticks spotted in London. We're up to 5 now.

It's Monday and I'm sitting in the Theatre Cafe in London. It's wonderful in here. There's a brilliant view of the Queen's Theatre and props from tons of musicals decorate the walls. I'm drinking chamomile tea, partly because I'm trying to fight off a cold that snuck up on me in Wales and partly because I guess I like tea now. I've had some everyday this week. I'm acclimating to England.

It's Monday night and I've almost cried about 5 times today. I know that leaving for a year means that there will be changes to the place I left behind. But sometimes it takes something specific to set off that mindset I guess... I don't know. Finding the right words for me is difficult in even simple situations.
I keep thinking about the fact that I wasn't there when Lillie died. Part of me is glad. I don't know how I would deal with actually being present and rushing her to the emergency room. But the other part...I don't know.
I have a weird thing with death maybe. Like, dead bodies are whatever. They don't particularly affect me. I'll clean up a dead squirrel or bird out of the yard no problem. And dissecting hearts or whatever, I just think of it as a 'thing'.
But I don't want to watch someone or something die. I was horrified to learn that someone in AB's French class for a class project played a Youtube clip of a guillotine being used in real life, no matter how grainy or distorted the image. And I was kind of afraid to watch a certain wildlife documentary when the trailer showed an old lion flopping over. He could have just been tired, but I had...I guess a chill? and it looked like it had just died mid-walk.
I don't know. Words are difficult. It...just does something to me.

Sorry that got real morbid real fast.

---

It's almost Tuesday. Only an hour to go for me. I'm sitting in my London hostel fighting for good wifi. It's a bit spotty here. Hopefully you'll see this blog.

I've been gone a full week but it doesn't feel like it. Anna Beth and I were just talking about this while overlooking the Thames. It's like when you've gone on vacation and you feel like you've been gone forever and you've always been here but at the same time, the time has just flown by. It's sort of like that only without the 'time flying by' bit.
I guess it mostly still just feels like I'm on holiday. But there have been a few 'oh crap real life' moments as well. Suzanne helped us look into a few different living arrangement options for once we get to Ireland.
Sometimes it's I think about Ireland and get overwhelmed.
Other times I think about Ireland and know I'm gonna be okay.

Best Wishes,
Jill

P.S. - Seriously someone make my cold go away. This is no way to enjoy London.  ugh.
[for those of you unaware, I become a bit of a drama queen when I'm sick. I tend to hate everything or become easily delirious. I think I'm amusing Anna Beth]

Hello from another crazy week in kindergarten. It's the week after spring break, so the kids needed a little reminding about how you can and cannot act in the classroom. You know: stay in your seat, raise your hand to speak, don't throw paper at the back of people's heads, that kind of thing. But after a week of rehearsing procedures and reinforcing expectations, we're doing better.

You will of course have noticed that I didn't blog last week, buuuuuuuuuuuut considering this:

I figured you guys would understand :)

In terms of that, I don't really have much to say. I was ecstatic, obviously. The ring is absolutely perfect, just like the man who gave it to me. Aaaaaand now I get to say fiance instead of boyfriend :)

I feel like I should be gushier and all into wedding details and stuff. But it has only been a week, after all, and we're figuring on a summer 2016 wedding, so I figure I have plenty of time to stress about all the things that are going wrong with trying to plan the most magical day of my life. 

So anyways, it's the weekend! Yay! I'm going to go enjoy that for a couple of days now :)

Love,

Sara

One of the things I love about seeing new places is trying to capture them on film (well, digital, but that's beside the point). What I love even more is utterly failing. I try to take a picture of vast field of rapeseed, its yellow flowers lending the countryside a sunny disposition. I try to take a video of sheep playing in a meadow or ribbons blowing in the branches of massive old trees. And it's beautiful. But the images stored in my camera are nothing compared to the real things. And that has to be my favorite part. God designed a world so amazing that nothing a human could create will ever be able to reproduce it. I mean, better photographers with better cameras can do a lot better than I can, but it'll never be the same as standing in the midst of real natural beauty, feeling and smelling it.

You just have to be there.



And those are my brief thoughts for now. More to come next week. Oh, and I got a new computer and editing software, so hopefully more vlogging will happen soon! Be sure you're subscribed on YouTube!

xoxo,
Anna Beth

Hello from England! 
After roughly 30 hours traveling, we have arrived in Alton, UK. And the weather's great.

Where to start?
Well, for one, my suitcase is falling apart. It's lovely to get a nice suitcase for really cheap. It's not lovely if the rolling handle breaks in the airport right before checking in. And of course the other fabric handle is already ripped. So 'Taire (my suitcase... Yes I named it) is now down to one semi-usable handle on his side; not really ideal, but as long as it makes it to Dublin in one piece that's all that matters.

Anyway, my Monday started at 4am, and my family and I were on the road to the airport by 4:30. All in all though (except for the suitcase) everything went really smoothly. I thought for sure my suitcase would be overweight but it wasn't. And the layovers went super fast, even the 7 hour long one in JFK. AB and I literally just talked about random stuff for about 7 hours straight. It was great.

It was really on the flight to London where things started to drag. There's only so long I can be cooped up in a sitting position without going a little aggro. It didn't help that I was in the middle aisle of seats, aka you will not find a comfortable sleeping position ever. And then the queue for immigration was super long. And it took a while to load onto the bus to Waterloo train station and then to drive to Waterloo and drag a broken suitcase into the station...
But going into Waterloo was like a bit of a homecoming. It was the first truly familiar thing I'd seen in London yet. And it was simple enough to get on the train to Alton where we could finally say we were done traveling for a spell, or at least dragging luggage around (seriously though, I love traveling but I hate carrying stuff around)

It's great being around Suzanne and Daniel and the boys again. They're a riot. They took us out to Lasham airfield to watch gliders taking off and have some ice cream after dinner. Pretty unique experience. And then we all watched a TV special on space and physics hosted by Brian Cox together.

Ok I guess that's it for today? I need to head to bed. I believe we're gonna go see Windsor castle tomorrow

Best Wishes,
Jill 

P.S.  -- I'm writing this while AB is sleeping but she literally just woke up, asked me if I was still a duck and that everyone else is a goose and then went back to sleep

Fun times