Creeeaaakkkk...Hellooo

My last exam went alright, I think, but for the sport I had to make up a speed and agility drill for I got stupid Netball. Not even a sport...But it's over and school is done for the summer! So I'll take it. Grades aren't out yet, I think they should be soon.

So you may have noticed from my tweets that last week Alex and I were in Scotland! Apart from it being an amazing country, we had a great tour guide AND we saw all sorts of Harry Potter things!

For instance:
It wasn't part of the actual tour, but coming into London to catch our coach to Scotland, they were filming at King's Cross and we saw Hermione, Harry, (I think) Ron, and some other characters I won't mention if you haven't read the book. Cool!

We had one day in Edinburgh before the tour started, so we got tea at the Elephant House, where J.K. wrote the first two books.

We saw where Hagrid's house was built in Glen Coe and the bridge the Hogwarts Express train drives over.

And there was a guy on the tour, Ben, who looked like Cedric Diggory (not Robert Pattinson, just specifically him in the 4th movie).

Also saw where parts of Braveheart, Highlander, and Stardust were filmed. Along with doing other awesome Scotland things like of COURSE going to Loch Ness and doing a dance to get Nessie to come out (it didn't work...she was probably sleeping in that morning).

Staying a night in a Castle that is now used as a hostel.

And hiking in the Highlands

Great trip!

Complete album of photos here and here(pt.2)

Amstel Dammel

Alrighty, well from March 25-29 Alex and I were in Amsterdam. I always thought it was in Germany, turns out it's in the Netherlands. Luckily, we still made it to our destination :)

Our first night we met up with some of Harry Picken's (Alex's friend who we were staying with) friends for dinner. Afterward they wanted to go to a coffee shop. You know what happens there, and Alex and I sat by while we watched a professional hockey player from Prague do it. Really, it was probably just as entertaining as getting high would have been anyway. And this was free.

The next, our first, morning we ate at a coffee place for breakfast her friend Tessa recommended: Bagels and Beans (it was so good we ate there again our last morning)

We walked around that day just seeing the sights and all the shops down by the canals in the central part of town.


Went to Anne Frank's house that evening. I've never read her diary, but being in there was insane enough just knowing the basics. It is really well preserved and has alot of information on Anne Frank and the others that hid there. Now I shall go by the book. (The building is the one in the middle not lit up. Craziest part is people live RIGHT next door! Like, other side of the wall--I'd freak out).
Then met some of Harry's other friends and went dancing, where I got a bright red drink spilt on my white scarf :S
We slept 4.5 hours and then got up to go to the Amsterdam Dungeons. If I would have known what it was (1 hour of things jumping out and scaring you) I may have passed, alas, I didn't. So I had a steady heart attack for the length we were there. Then we ate at a ballin restaurant called La Place, that's like fancy cafeteria style with super good food. By the way, all the things we ate on our trip were beyond good.

Boat tour, where all of us nodded off at one point.
Then to a marketing firm called Sid Lee to watch a drawing battle between their office and the Cardiff branch. (Alex is a marketing major, and apparently the company Sid Lee is big in the biz. That's how we found out about it, and she was unbelievably stoked to go). It was probably one of the coolest things I've done here yet, just because it was so unique. Cool party too, lots of music and chatting, and these guys taggin it up the whole time. (The home team ended up winning, more photos in the FB album)
After that we took a trip down to the Red Light District. It's about what you would imagine, lots of barely dressed ladies in windows and large groups of men gawking at them. A quick walk up and down the main road and we got the idea.

We walked about 45 miles that day because we missed the night bus home, I was a little grouchy. But we made it home and slept til 1 the next afternoon. Thank goodness.

Rented bikes when we first got out and about and went to Madame Tussaud's wax museum that afternoon. I suppose it was kind of neat, though I wouldn't recommend paying for it as being worth it. Oh well, we still met alot of celebs.

Since everything closes really early on Sundays, we decided to go see a movie. That movie turned out to be Avatar in 3D. I enjoyed it, definitely cool to watch, and glad I got to see it in 3D before it left theaters. That night we biked around town a bit to see the area, then went home.

Monday morning we said our goodbyes to Harry Picken and went off to do a Mike's Bikes tour of the country side.


On the tour we stopped off at a cheese farm and clog making factory (in the same building, so Dutch). The cheese was delicious!

We then quickly made our way to the Van Gogh museum, where I learned a lot more that I had known about him. For instance, I didn't even know he had shot himself? And he did some Japanese art for a while. I saw some pieces I'd never seen before that made me like him more, and some I'd never seen before that made me much less impressed by him. But in the end, it was really cool to see a bunch of his originals.

After that we made our way to the airport, where there were a lot of delayed flights. Once we got past security there were a ton of people standing around the one screen displaying departures and gates, some looked like they'd been there awhile. Plus, once we got through security, there was no food (so our plan to eat lunch after we got checked through was out) and also no bathrooms?? We went into slight panic mode and ate this huge candy bar she had with her. It turned out our flight was basically on time, just didn't get posted right away. But atleast we were full for the short flight home. When we got to the airport our coach back to Hatfield had broken down (as had a few others) so we got a taxi back compliments of the Luton airport.

We had probably the worst taxi driver this side of the Atlantic, he didn't know where we were going at all, had ME type in the directions on his GPS, had to stop to get gas,and missed the turn when we told him where it was. But Footloose did play on the radio station he had on, so he redeemed himself pretty quick. Nice enough fella, anyway.

And that, friends, was AmsterdamT It was was nicer that I ever thought it'd be, and beautiful in general. A contender to Switzerland for sure.

All the pictures.

Sprechen Sie Englisch?

From Wednesday-Sunday I was in Switzerland, a country one year ago I thought I'd never go to. I stayed with Michael Meier (from the hockey team 07-09) and Geoffrey met us there as well, since he's studying in the Czech.

First day was just trying to get there and get ahold of Mike via cell phone, which isn't as easy as you'd think. But I a very nice lady named Gabby helped me at the train station and Mike did call me so I made it to his home in Aarau safely around 11 pm.

Thursday morning Michael had to go to work, so I went to Zurich to meet Geoff when he got there from his 10 hour bus ride.

It snowed pretty much all day, but it was still a nice temperature so I didn't mind it a bit. Plus I wore the boots Grandma got me which helped :) We didn't get meals so much as we just got coffee and pastries along the way. The coffee there, btw, is phenomenal.

We also went to a museum and then watched Michael at hockey practice that night.

Friday morning it was sunny out! Geofferson and I stayed in Aarau and explored the town, which we decided we LOVED. It's a lovely country.

That night Michael made us fondue despite his very strict "No Cheese in the Apartment" policy. Thank goodness too, because it was delicious. We then went to a club where ladies got in free (Frauen: Gratis), met some of Michael's native friends, and of course danced. Only down side was people could smoke inside, so my eyes burned well into the next morning.

Saturday we went skiing in the Alps. An added bonus was he drive us there. Let me tell you, you never realize just how nice riding in a car is until you can't do it for 5 months.

I sucked ridiculous amounts at skiing. I fell on my tail bone really hard the 3rd slope I went down, so that made the rest of the day pretty long. It really was a lot of fun though, and Geoff and Michael stuck with me the whole day. God bless them.

Up there was the prettiest scenery I think I have ever seen, a lake surrounded by mountains?? That's the dream location!

That night we just made stupid amounts of spaghetti and recovered from the day. There had been a soccer game vs. Zurich FC that evening while we were getting in. We stood on the balcony and watched the away team fans walk to the train station and sing sing sing like they do. A bit after that, we heard more commotion and went outside again to see the jerkier fans getting in fights and throwing rocks at the cops in riot gear and their caged vans. They were real houligans!!! I'm sure I'd be more annoyed like Michael if I lived there, but it was just really awesome.

I had to leave the apt at 8 the next morning to get back to the airport and the boys joined me :) How nice. And then I left them...it was like the best thing to see people I knew, and to do it in Switzerland? Why, that was just a big heaping pile of Nutella icing.

Ps. I want to learn German soooooooo bad now. Coolest language ever!

Willst du more photos?

We'll "beheading" to the next tower now

:) Barney. What a great tour guide.

This weekend Alex, Nic and I took a little trip to London where we stayed 2 nights. We met up with Caitlin, Alex's friend from Canada who came to visit her for a few days (ahem. Hint.) We tried to get last minute tickets to a show in West End our first night but the only ones cheap enough were to Avenue Q...I didn't know how much I cared to see it. So we just got dinner and went back to the hostel for the night. Which was SO nice! 2 sets of bunk beds, lockers for all our stuff, bathrooms one way down the hall, and a room with shower stalls at the other end. Clean, well kept, friendly staff, DELICIOUS breakfast, and no torture chamber in the basement! It met all the requirements :)

Next day Alex and Caitlin wanted to go to Windsor so Nicole and I took off to see the market in Camden.
And by that, I mean the entire city is like 900 acres of market. We got lost trying to just do one section at a time, it was sooo cool. We pet a baby kangaroo!

That night we went to a club called Cargo and dance dance danced. Met some Italians and paid 50 pence for a stick of gum from the kiosk lady in the bathroom (?). That day just really had it all. I got to sleep at 5 am.
Only to wake up at 8 am to adventure some more. Had another wonderful continental breakfast (flaky pastries and chocolate spread...mmmm...) and went to see the Tower of London.

It's where Henry VIII lived with Anne Boleyn and also had her beheaded, were the crown jewels are kept... (this guy in the Royal Scepter was my favorite--second largest diamond in the world)
...and other historical events and artifacts were/are held. Neat place, but I was VERY hungry so I was happy to leave and find lunch. We came home *not without making a very necessary stop*
and went to trivia where our team got 8th?!! Very disappointing. But, we love the trivia team, so a fun night and very fun weekend nonetheless.

This morning around 10 I looked out and saw about 3/4 inch of snow on the ground. I then checked my email (I had a hunch) and had a new message from my Conditioning professor saying class today was canceled due to "adverse weather conditions". Bahaha, England you crazy!

Here are all the pictures from the weekend

Windsor Castle

Today was the trip to Windsor Castle. We took the audio tour through the Castle and then walked around the town the rest of the day. Holy cow, the tour was awesome! The interior was beautiful, all the art and design that's gone into it...it's crazy to imagine all the time spent on everything in there. I guess this is where the Queen spends her weekends too so that's fun. I was a little skeptical before I went because I didn't know anything about it, but I am SO glad I went. I'd recommend it to anyone visiting or even living in England.
This is the castle:

This is St. George's Chapel

And this is a fine specimen of the veggie burger cuisine here. They sure don't make 'um like this in America.

Tonight some of us girls went to see Valentines Day. It's a little along the same lines as Love Actually, so if you liked that I'd recommend it. If you didn't, well this is different enough you might like this. So whatever, you know if you're going to see it or not. I enjoyed it though!

I'm gonna be a scawy pumpkin!

And to top it all off, a stop in Tulsa. I chilled mostly during the day while Shannon and Nicole were at work. Sleeping, reading Twilight series, and watching the Office. But we kept it summer evening, such as by getting snow cones (not the sweet pickle ones, though they were available. B A R F)

My last day in town they had a hockey game which I don't actually know if they won or not. No score board, I found it hard to keep track.

Great summer trips, maybe a bit much on the driving side for my liking though. Would I do it again? 80th birthdays and Urban Oklahoma livin? Yeah I would.

Thats more handy than a pocket on a shirt

Them gaw dang Texans and their rootin tootin dialect.

Chris, Jenette, and I just got back from a 5ish day trip to Granbury to visit Chris' parents family. We did all the regulars, boat rides, jet skis, little bit of tubing.
We got to see Audrey and her family and Lyndi and they're all doing well. Ed and Peggy are good and Brenda and Joe seem to be living happy days.
Some new developments to the Texas trip included:
Ball-robics
Cutting my toe on a shard of metal in the lake and going to the ER. I'll refrain from showing the toe, you may not want to see it.
Going to the Stockyards in Fort Worth.
Crawdads on a buffet
Joe and Lyndi's Birthday/Pre Birthdays
Staying up all night our last night throwing up the pain medicine I took. (Photo not available). For awful it maybe could have been, I atleast had fun people around me to make it better. So atleast the next time can only be better! Eat food when you take four ibuprofen.

Clap Clap Wizards *raise hands*

Saturday Shannon and I went to KC to meet with Nette and Chris and stay at Newgen's. We ate at T-Rex, which was the first time I'd ate under jellyfish and next to Dinosaurs.
After that we went to a Kansas City Wizards soccer game! We sat in the cauldron, which is the fan section, so we cheered like mad futbol fans. SO much fun! Plus we ended up sitting next to Brett and Brian, Coleman's friends, completely by chance which was nuts. Our boys tied the Chivas (who we watched play the Rapids last summer), but we had two players get red-carded, so we held our own pretty well I'd say. My favorite, Wolff who was #16, was the first to be kicked out :(
After the game we went to Steak 'n Shake...I don't know where else you would go after a game. Chris and I got hats. Original Gangsta and Ballin since 1939.
We got some sweet gear from the game.

Mid-West Spring Break Tour '09

There were many trials and tribulations and singalongs on Coleman's and my journey.

First off, you should know our playlist included basically a rep of 4 songs with one added in closer to the end.
*"I'm on a Boat" The Lonely Island ft. T-Pain (I recommend you watch this video. It's bomb, but has a LOT of inappropriate language, so I would also recommend that you remove any children from your computers vicinity)
*"Don't Waste Your Whine" Crazy
*"Carry On My Wayward Son" Kansas
*"I'm So Ronery" Team America
And then after it played on the radio twice within the hour, we added
*"Big Papa" Biggie Smalls

I'd like to give you a small taste of the trip through photo
Our first stop was in Frankfort to visit his hometown, parents, and grandmother.
Then to Tulsa to see Shannon and Nicole, have a picnic in the park, and play disc golf on a sweet course.
Stopped in Stillwater to see Bev and eat at Whataburger.
Stopped again to gamble (for the second time, but at a much much nicer casino that a triple wide trailer in Osage)
Got to Garden to visit Rhonda and the zoo, along with Dave and Grandma.
Got to Brighton, CO to visit his Uncle Bobby and also hang out with his cousin Shantel. Coleman and Bobby both played for the faculty in the high school's faculty vs students game.
Almost went to a club in Denver with Geoff and his friends, but didn't quite make it.
Went to Estes and went inside the Stanley hotel for the first time.
Went back to Longmont where we had a big party with the family!

You can see all my photos here.

And that in a nut shell was the beauty that was our road trip. We've had a great time, shared a few laughs...join us next time with our guest Albert Einstein!