adventures in england land

wow. the last time i posted, i was telling about the thanksgiving banquet. a lot has happened since then. my apologies. at some point there was a somewhat comical incidence in which the water in the conference hall ran out & i was stuck with fully shampooed hair, forced to shower hop... & faucet hop. not enjoyable, but thoroughly humourous. it was the middle of the night too. that's all i really remember... & i decided one night to take out my nose ring for some reason. getting it back in was painful & bloody... yeah. gross. but i managed to get it back it with helpful coaching from courtney. it snowed/slushed/hailed & everyone freaked out. i passed a test & an assignment & turned in a paper before break. go me. we had our christmas banquet & it was wonderful. afterwards, we sang carols on the big staircase in the main hall. beautiful. my family got a phone card so i was able to have actual conversations with them! i received a package from my grandparents & another one from my family.  they're all the best. the friday before term ended, we had roomie night & ordered pizza. i love that room. we're the coolest. again, everyone ended up piled on my bed. we had to move completely our of our rooms since we're changing rooms when we get back. i have A LOT of stuff. i'm definitely sending some home with the parents.
so, term ended & jamie & i went to phil & audrey's to stay the night. i brought all of my stuff so that was heavy... jamie bought these really awful rollers that she wanted to try out. when we tried to take them out in the morning, they were completely tangled up & it took half the morning to get them out. we made it to the train station on time & got on the train. we changed trains in manchester. we almost missed our stop. we realized that we were at our stop, quickly gathered our things & made it off the train right as the doors were closing. my purse got knocked off my shoulder & onto the platform. fortunately there was a group of people waiting for their train to witness this embarrassing moment. we eventually found our way out of the train station & realized that we didn't know exactly where our hotel was. we asked someone & got some vague directions. we asked a taxi driver & were even more confused. we made it to the road & decided that a taxi would be a good idea since our bags are heavy. we got to the hotel & were early for check in. the lady let us leave our bags & we went to the kfc for lunch & to the grocery store for food. we have mostly been living off dry cereal, bread, peanut butter, bread, & apples. we finally were able to check in & i soon discovered that the internet costs but it was so worth it. we slept the day away then coloured jamie's hair. there was dye left so i coloured a streak of mine on the underside. i can hardly see it, but i know it's there. haha. the next day we slept in way late then went in search of the church in town that has a crooked spire. we ended up going the wrong way & wandered around lost forever. we didn't find it & returned to the hotel. we ate dinner at the hotel's restaurant. we then watched movies & relaxed. the next day, we actually got up & got a taxi to the bus station & almost got on the wrong bus to go to chatsworth house. i asked a kind lady & she pointed us to the right bus stop. we bought bad coffee while we were waiting & had to toss it to get on the bus anyway. the bus took us to the road to chatsworth house. we had to walk this long country lane & there was a lot of ice &i fell once & almost fell a hundred times. we finally made it to the house & part of it was under construction... lame. but we walked the ground for a while. it was gorgeous. {side note, for those who don't know the significance of this place. chatsworth house was used as mr. darcy's house in the latest pride & prejudice movie. & belongs to the duke & duchess of devonshire, for those who have seen the movie 'the duchess'} we froze our buns off outside & i slid around on the ice plenty. we were hungry so we got some bad hotdogs. so classy. when we were sufficiently cold, we made it into the house. it was amazing. our favourite part was the statue room, as seen in p&p. the whole house was decorated for christmas so it was kind of weird though. we took pictures with all the statues that we remembered from the movie. EXCITEMENT. right outside of the statue room was the gift shop. we didn't realize that once you go there, there's no going back. we couldn't re-enter. i think we missed part of the house. we're telling ourselves that we saw it all. we did see the parts that were in the movie. :) we then had to make the walk back, but this time it was even colder & dark. bad news. we made it back to the bus stop as swiftly as we could for fear of losing our feet to frostbite. we almost missed our bus because of a bathroom break in the sketchy bathroom. we got dropped off in the middle of chesterfield & wanted to find our way to the train station to get a taxi. it took a lot of wandering & searching before we could find it. exhausted & freezing, we made it back to our hotel & collapsed into our beds. this morning, we slept in way late, even though we were rudely awoken by something that sounded like a fire alarm but wasn't...  we slowly got ready & went to the grocery store again. after dropping our stuff off at our room, we took a taxi to the church. we only could look around the chruch because tours of the tower were not happening at that time... we shopped a bit & i turned down a lot of lovely clothes {except for one dress...}. we got coffee & had a good talk. then we went back to the train station again to buy our tickets back to manchester & took a cab back to the hotel. we've been chilling ever since. tomorrow, we fly to paris!
i tried skyping my home & those within it but skype is awful & it failed. :( homesickness is an actual feeling of sickness. who knew?
that's all for now. i hope this is sufficient. & i'm sorry if there are grammar or spelling errors. i don't feel like proof reading this all.
i love you all. :)
the end.

merry sinterklaas!

i should really post more often. i feel like i'm forgetting a lot of stuff. whoops. time seriously flies here.

so, we had another project due last week. we had to make a gospel tract. mine wasn't very creative but i'm sure it was fine...  also, homework means no exercise. i'm legitimately more tired when i don't work out. who knew?

anyway, i believe saturday was where i left off....

sunday was the usual. monday, tuesday, wednesday were spent trying to be a good student & working on my project. i got it turned in on time. jill & stuart briscoe were our lecturers all week. if you don't know who they are, google them or something. they're amazing. thursday was spent doing nothing & then getting ready for 'special night'. i'm sure you've seen the pictures by now. if not, go look.... cute, hey? well, that was fun. it was technically not for american thanksgiving, but it totally was. turkey & potatoes & green beans. {the green beans didn't have those french-fried onions on them though... } we took a ton of pictures after. then, we had a dance in the gym. people here have been doing ballroom & swing & latin dancing, so that was happening...someone else started a better dance party in the basement of the castle. it was fun. we danced 'til lockup. on friday, we had a seminar about personal finance. i seriously hate money & i'm terrible at managing it, so i wasn't a fan. friday night, we helped this organization called radio bible class do a huge mailing. they distribute gospel tracts & devotionals & such. on saturday, we went to a premier football game in bolton. we got cheaper tickets for promising to cheer for the home team. our team lost... disappointing. it was fun though. legit. on sunday, my friend did the sermon. it was great. after church, we were all sitting around being boring in our room & then we decided to decorate our room. we raided the craft closet upstairs & made snowflakes & paper chains. a tree branch & some holly in a vase is our christmas tree. it's lovely.  last week, one of the staff here did a lecture series about the holy spirit. {i'm sorry, i really don't remember much about last week.} monday night, we all put our mattresses on the floor & had a slumber party & watched a movie. wednesday was my roommate brittany's birthday. & noodle night. what is noodle night? well, a bunch of the guys collected money & bought a ton of ramen noodles & cooked them all. yep. that's it. it was delicious. then, we had a dance party & treats in our room. dance parties are kind of the norm in here. on friday, i went to the town of kendal for some shopping. we bought this trip at the auction. did i tell about he auction? raising money for the kenya missions trip? i don't remember. well, it was just a few pounds & we got to go to kendal for a few hours. my roommate victoria needed a dress, so that's all we did. friday was family night. i can't remember if i've talked about family groups... well, we're all split up into groups here & there are a few members of staff for each group to be the parents. we have family nights where we all get together & do something. this time, we had a pyjama {proper british spelling} party & made gingerbread houses & watched home alone. i love my family. :) on saturday, our boys' football {soccer} team was playing a game in carnforth so jamie & briar & elyssa & i went after brunch to cheer for them. it was freezing & windy & we won. that night, we had a three-on-three basketball tournament. we made signs & screamed loudly. 

by the way, no-shave november is over. there are many mustaches & soul patches around here. too good. 

i got a christmas package from my family. it made me this happy :))))))))))))

this morning, we had church in the lounge. there was a fire going & the entire study body was packed in there.

{i meant to post on wednesday but the internet has been mostly off all week. it's actually not working as i'm typing this. so, frustating. nothing like missing multiple skype dates with my sister...}

today is dutch christmas. merry sinterklaas!

the end.

it's me again...

i am so sorry, my faithful readers {mom}, for not posting for so long. i didn't forget you, i just got distracted. for two weeks? wow. sorry. i feel like i'll be leaving a lot out because that's a serious amount of time in the world of blogs. i'll try my best...

so, after travel weekend, we got a new seating arrangement for lectures & i now sit by jamie. you know her, yeah? oh, no? go facebook stalk her or something. we had a lecture the day we got back from edinburgh. we were quite excited to be sitting together. we got a few looks from a member of staff. we quickly learned how to contain ourselves for fear of being moved apart. um... that week is kind of a blur. we, you know, had lectures. & ate meals. & stuff. our seminar on friday was entitled singleness & sexuality. yeah. that was a treat. all that really stuck was that not all of us will get married & that's okay. cool... on friday, we had a volleyball tournament. our team didn't win. & by 'our team', i mean the team for which we were cheering. i don't really do sports... you know. saturday, november fifth was guy fawkes day. click here for more information. emma picked me up in the afternoon & we went to sarah's house. i had told my family that i would skype them when i got there because the internet would be good & we could use video. emma was encouraging me to get online, so i did & enjoyed the spectacularly fast internet for a bit, then i closed my computer in an attempt to be more social.  my family wasn't online so i figured i'd catch them later. i got back on after a little bit for some reason & finally received their call. i got to see their faces & hear their voices & it was amazing. :) i even got to see my aunt denise! mom reminded of the rule that i'm not allowed to fall in love with anyone from a different country. not even canada. i assured her that she had literally nothing to worry about... we talked for a while about life & things & then they broke the most wonderful news in the whole world... they're coming to visit me!!! the day after christmas. for a week! i may or may not have cried. it was lovely. {jamie made the observation that i cry a lot... yes, i do...} we talked more & emma brought me chinese food. andy took the boys to wwe wrestling... yeah... & emma & sarah & i went to a bonfire. when i say 'bonfire', i mean BONFIRE. it was insane. then there were firworks. then we went back to the house & watched the movie something borrowed. i don't really recommend it. i took that time to upload my edinburgh pictures. {you're welcome.} i think i stayed up way too late that night using youtube. i just miss it so much. *tear* then, emma brought me home on sunday. it was a short getaway, but it was good. oh, & we've started exercising somewhat regularly. we do  P90x yoga & kenpo. kenpo is like kick-boxing. it's intense. my roommate has the dvds & we switch between the two. we had a paper due on tuesday so we didn't really do it from about friday... then not again 'til the next firday... we're awesome. we all got our papers in on time though. it was due on tuesday at four. i turned it in at 3:50. woooooooo. success. i had a little trouble typing it because the microsoft word trial had run out & it wouldn't let me type. that was great.... but my momma saved the day & got me the product code & i got it done. i passed my last essay so, fingers crossed for this one. i took a nap after i turned it in. we brain wanted to explode & my eyes wanted to fall out of my head. it was very dramatic. we were pretty lazy the rest of the week. we are planning to be more responsible & not procrastinate so much next time... yeah, that's what they all say... jamie & i have been working on our travel plans for break. she's flying home on the 24th so we have ten-ish days. we had an idea, then changed our minds. then changed our minds again... we are both OBSESSED with pride & prejudice so she came up with the brilliant plan of travelling to the filming locations. yep. we're thinking those places then meeting up with friends in paris. we're still working out the details but that's the basic plan. then, christmas with the talbots & a week with mom & dad. i'm so blessed. :) 

this week's lectures were interesting. one lecturer taught on the sermon on the mount & the other spoke about colossians. i liked the former, but the latter was pretty difficult to follow. i just took a bunch of notes & tried to focus. he had some strong opinions regarding tattoos & yoga. it was interesting. but those lectures are now over. 

i had choir practice on friday. we're singing for some christmas event we'll be having here. it is so great to be singing again. i've missed choir. there was an open mic on friday night. there were some really great singers. no, i didn't sing. it's weird not having my brother here to accompany me...

on saturday, jamie, elyssa, james, david, kwan, & i went to manchester. there was really good shopping. my boots are goners so i got a new pair & some fancy shoes for our upcoming banquet. & a few other things. it was really good shopping. we left here at 10:30 & got back at 8:30. it's about an hour train ride away. it was a long day. jamie sat on my lap most of the way there. otherwise, we had to stand. it was just lovely. we went to starbucks to use the wi-fi. they were playing christmas music & i had the most amazing gingerbread latte. best ever. i'll be dreaming about it. don't judge me. the coffee at school is really awful.

 the end.

is this real life?

i wrote this on friday night then left without posting it. so here's this...
i'm in scotland, guys. you may wonder why in the world i'm sitting here at the computer instead exploring this wonderful city. well, it's dark. & the three of us girls split off from our group so it's a little sketch. we'll do better tomorrow. we left the capes at nine this morning. i skipped breakfast in favour of a shower... yeah. great plan. halfway, we stopped off at the place where people ran off to get married. i really don't know what it's called. courtney & i tried to take wedding photos but we got photo-bombed. jerks... so, we arrived in edinburgh around... the afternoon time... we successfully found our hostel. the castle rock. right next to... the castle. it's clean & not dodgy like i thought it would be. our room is star wars themed. we wandered around town for a while. we were starved so we got fish & chips from the food court at the mall. quality. we did some shopping & got some starbucks. we wandered some more. i am IN LOVE with the fact that there are bagpipers on almost every corner. we're all sitting in our little room now. kaylee bought a guitar. daniel is blasting danish rap. we're all enjoying good internet. surreal.

so, after i wrote that, we realized how lame we were & went out. & we did absolutely nothing. we just walked around. we got bored & went back to the hostel. on saturday morning, caitlyn & courtney & i went to meet a group of friends. we found them at mcdonald's & sat around trying to decide on a game plan. we all wanted to do different things so we soon split from them, got starbucks & went to edinburgh castle. it cost £14 & we had to wait in line for nearly an hour to buy our tickets. it was insanely windy & we were tired. it was great once we got in though. it was like a museum but in an amazingly beautiful castle. mind-blowing. we spent a few hours there. i'd say that was £14 worth. it was so windy, i almost fell over. & we were really hungry. we wanted to go to the hard rock cafe but the wait was far too long... in our search for another place to eat, we ran into the group of friends that we had been looking for the whole time but never saw. they were still shopping so we tagged along with them. we soon decided it was time for food. we walked all the way to this mexican place but they didn't have room for us... then we went to a place for cheap pizza but they were out of pizza... we finally ended up at a pub. it was crowded downstairs so we went upstairs, not realizing that it was fancier & more expensive restaurant up there. we got our menus & came to the conclusion that we would politely explain why we couldn't eat there & leave. the waiter was nice though & he let us order off the pub's menu instead. it was significantly more reasonable. after dinner, we hung out at our friends' hostel for a but then they all walked us across town to ours. 


on sunday morning... we didn't go to church... i didn't consider that fact that the churches there are ancient & gorgeous & would have amazing choirs... apparently we really missed out. we did however have a late breakfast & walked up to calton hill that pretty much overlooks the whole city. it was gorgeous. we got some good pictures. then we checked out some stores & paid £3 to hike up a spiral staircase of 287 stairs. & it was tight. like, i have random bouts of claustrophobia & this hit me big time. i was shaking & hyperventilating & laughing at how awful it was. there we multiple landings as we got further up. after the first couple, it got really narrow. as in, the people coming down had to go back up to make room for us. i wanted to die a little. we made it to the top & the fear of heights hit me. i wanted to fall over when we got back down. i was dizzy from going down all those stairs & exhausted from it all. it was quite the experience. it was fun though. :) we shopped some more & i bought a reasonably priced pair of shoes from urban outfitters. excitement. we were so worn out from everything & felt like poo so we went back to the hostel to freshen up. we met up with kaylee & arianna & went out to dinner. all of us were pretty worn out from all the activity & weird eating schedule. 


on monday morning, we got had breakfast & made our way to the buses. it was a grand trip. good memories. i hope to go again. :)


pictures to come sometime in the future. maybe. 



the end. :)

rock on

• we had a costume party last night. we were all assigned a theme. mine was nerd. but i wanted to wear a toga. so i wrapped myself up in my sheet & threw on nerd glasses. TO-GA! TO-GA! TO-GA! 
• friday night was social night. there were different options of what we could do. games or movies or whatever else. courtney & caitlyn & i did spa night. the dining hall was transformed into a spa. somehow it worked. it was put on by the kitchen girls who are so, so sweet. it was very relaxing. 
• last monday was victoria's birthday & tuesday was courtney's so we had a party in our room on monday night. we ordered pizza & jina & i bought a cake in town. it was a grand old time. we had party poppers & balloons. we party so hard. 
• nighttime walks are the best things in the world. i assure you they are quite safe & no one ever goes alone. they're good for serious talks & crazy times.
• this weekend was our month-iversary of being here. unbelievable. 
• edinburgh this weekend!!! i'm so excited. i can't even tell you.
• our seminar on friday was on time management. i swear rob whittaker was looking directly at me...
• on thursday we girls had a talk about beauty & fashion & modesty. it mostly good stuff. lots that i already knew. but still good.
• tonight during evening church, the korean students led the service. we learned about christianity in korea & how to do traditional greetings & the like. it was beyond great. we did korean style prayer {everyone praying at the same time} & we worshiped like crazy. it was amazing. at the end we all got together with our roommates & we all ended up in tears. so good. 
• we have our first paper due this week. gahhhhhhhh. joy.
• my roommate lost a friend recently so please keep her in your prayers. :(
• we have an extra bed in our room so we have friends sleep over. good times. 

the end.

home away from home.

ahhhhhh, i had such a lovely weekend. caitlyn & courtney & i went to phil & audrey's house on friday afternoon. i gave them a tour of ribchester & showed them my favourite place-- the graveyard. then we went back to the house for tea {dinner}. when i told phil that i hurt my ankle climbing through the window, he decided it must have been a boy's window... you know me... anyway, we stayed up quite late. i skyped cece for two hours. with video! it was wonderful. we slept in saturday morning. then we went to the hospital to get my ankle looked at. we waited. & waited. & waited. three hours & an x-ray later, they concluded that i had a torn ligament. i have to rest & ice it. no more walking the loop. i'm so sad. :( they said no sports or high heels. i can deal with that. after the hospital, we went shopping in preston. lots of walking. pretty much exactly what i'm not supposed to do. but i was determined. we ran into a lot of capernwrayers. including roomies victoria & brittany with our friends david & matt. we shopped for a few hours then phil picked us up. we three girls went to dinner at a pub in ribchester while phil & audrey went to some festival. it was delicious. we had burgers. it's been too long. then we spent the rest of the evening online. the internet is just so fast there. & we could use youtube. we went to church this morning & there was a baby dedication. & food afterwards. quite a few people remembered me. it was nice. :)  we got back to school around three. we're exhausted but it was fun.

other random things.

• nighttime walks around the loop are my & courtney's new favourite thing. the first time, we took david with us. but there are usually other people out there, so we're safe.
• after the last one, courtney & i tried stargazing but there were clouds so it was more of a 'lay-in-the-grass-&-watch-the-clouds'. but it was nice. we had girl talk. we slept late the next day.
• caitlyn's booking our hostel for travel weekend now!
• as good as lectures are, i feel like God is teaching me more outside of lectures. i'm just learning a lot about myself. it's crazy. crazy cool.
• i had my first outreach last wednesday. me & three other girls sang & gave our testimonies at a ladies meeting at a church. it was actually fun. & we had tea with them afterwards.
• i got a package from my momma right before we left for said outreach. i saw the package on the table & yelped when i saw it was for me. man, that castle is echo-y.
• audrey did our laundry this weekend. she's amazing. :)
• i need to come up with a good story of how i hurt my ankle. the true story is lame. & embarrassing.
• people were playing touch rugby the other day. in the field. it was muddy. & so were they. it was entertaining.
• i forgot my phone charger at audrey's. but she gave me rain boots!

the end.

happy alternative thanksgiving! er, canadian thanksgiving!

• having roommates that i love is terrific but bedtime is virtually non-existent. so much laughter. so much crazy. the other night, we were in bed around eleven. then jina started bumpin' some korean dance music. first we were all dancing in our beds. then we got up & were dancing in the dark. then courtney remembered that she has a strobe light. it got wild up in here. then courtney & i jumped out the window & ran laps around the building in the rain, barefoot. good times.
• we took our first test last week. woot.
• we always end up piled in my bed before 'bedtime'. roomie snuggle time love.
• we ordered pizza the other night. roomie pizza party? check.
• we had a bonfire a few nights ago. it was not close to the castle. & it was dark. everyone was just singing. as in, belting out random songs until no one know the rest of the words. then starting up another one. it was amusing. there's a guy here who does fire-dancing. it's intense.
• the roommates & caitlyn & michael, our protector, went to lancaster on saturday. i know you don't know who these people are. but i do. anyway, we shopped & all i bought was necessities. no clothes for me. so proud. & we took the train! yay first england train ride!
• last night, we were so going to be in bed at a decent hour... then everyone ended up on my bed again & we played truth or dare. middle school all over again. i had to get into the shower fully clothed for five seconds. courtney can't stand spit so her dare was for me to spit on her hand... jina is korean. her dare was to run up to our good friend david this morning & yell at him in korean then walk away. it was good stuff. we're awesome.
• we had a dodgeball tournament on saturday night. there were eight teams? i don't really know. two of my roomiees were on a team. they less than won. it was intense. people were super into it. 
• i know you all want pictures but i just haven't been taking a lot. we're mostly just around school & i don't like carrying my camera everywhere. & the internet is really slow so uploading pictures takes FOREVER. 
• i'm pretty sure i sprained my ankle the other day. okay, sprain might be a little dramatic. i was climbing through the window like we always do & my ankle somehow gave out & there was a snapping noise & a fall. it was ever so graceful. it was sore the rest of the day & walking around lancaster on saturday made it swell like crazy. i iced it. i'm seriously considering amputation.
• braveheart was playing in the conference hall yesterday. my, that's a heck-ton of violence. like, whoa, bro.
• everyone asked me if i'd get a british accent coming here... i'm actually starting to sound like a canadian. i'm surrounded.
•  i'm sorry i don't post much anymore. internet time is limited & slow. & i'm busy learning about Jesus & just not blogging

loves.

the end.