Preston & Liverpool England

Daniel has some sweet photography skills.

At the MTC in Preston, where my brother Cole was standing just a few months earlier.

You know it's going to be a good weekend when you wake up and your husband says, "let's go on a trip today." We got ready as quickly as we could and made the 2 hour drive south to Preston. The drive was absolutely incredible. Green rolling hills and stone walls as far as you could see, sheep everywhere, and little cottages dotting the fields. When we arrived in Preston we found a random restaurant that was on our sat nav, and it turned out to be the cutest and most quaint Italian restaurant I have ever seen. It was in the upstairs of a small penthouse, and no bigger than a large living room. Hanging lights everywhere, cute wooden tables and chairs, and delicious pizza and prawns. It was a success. We stayed the night in a hotel, and I TOOK A SHOWER! You have no idea how sick I am of taking baths all the time, so staying at this hotel that night was a big deal. I forgot how wonderful showers really are.  The next morning we did a session in the beautiful Preston temple, and felt so refreshed afterwards. It is amazing how we can be so far away from home and family, but feel so close to them when we are in the temple. It's a little bit of heaven. The MTC (missionary training center) is right next to the temple, so we got to go see where my little brother was just a few short months ago! (he is now in London serving as a missionary). We then drove a little more south to Liverpool, which is the coolest city. We kept saying it reminded us of a lot of the big cities we have been to in the states rolled into one. It had a good mix of DC, Philly, Rochester NY, and Pittsburgh. We ate lunch at a Brazilian churrascaria, which was quite possibly the best Brazilian place we have ever eaten at. The pao de queijo was the best I have had. I ate way too much of it. Daniel was in heaven, and speaking Portuguese to the waiter every time he brought us meat. We left that place too full of rice and beans, too much meat, guarana, and of course the pao de queijo. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.  Afterwards, we tried to get into a Liverpool FC game, but it was all sold out! We were so bummed, but it was amazing to just be surrounded by so many football fans, and see how football is really a religion over here. We decided we still wanted to see a game, so we found another team a few miles away called Bolton FC, so we were able to get tickets to that and have our first professional English football experience! It was WILD. People here are SO into the game, and it was just amazing. Bolton is just in the championship league, which is the second best league here, but still a better level than the MLS in the states! We want to go to a premier match SO BAD. We are trying to decide when and what team we should go see first. After the match we drove back to Durham, completely satisfied with our temple trip weekend. I'm SO grateful we have a temple that is only 2 hours away! 

Fall in Durham

When Daniel left for training this late afternoon, I decided to take a little walk down to the nearest park. I'm so glad I did. The colors and the crisp air were so refreshing. Now to get to that homemade pot of chili cooking on the stove and those cheddar biscuits in the oven. We love fall.

10 Funny Things

In America: TJ Maxx. In the UK: TK Maxx

I have been wanting to do a post like this every since we got here. There have been a number of funny experiences/ funny things I've noticed that have been stewing in my brain, that I have been needing to write down. I'm going to share just a few.

1. A few weeks ago I went to the post office to send a package to my little brother who is serving a mission in London, and I could NOT understand a word the worker was saying...it didn't help that there was a clear plastic barrier in between us that muffled his voice. He had the thickest Geordie (northern England) accent, and I swear he was speaking a different language. What's funny is he couldn't understand me either. He started to laugh a little every time I would say something. It was just one great confusing conversation...but hey I got the package sent! We have had quite a few experiences like that, it's hilarious. It's even better when they try to mimic our American accent. Love it.

2. People here don't say butt, they say bum...now imagine that in an English accent. I'm laughing just thinking about it. And you said bum out loud in an English accent just now didn't you?

3. People here greet other people by saying, "Ya all right?" The first time someone asked me this I was like, "ummm yeah I'm fine," wondering if I looked sick or scared or something. It just means hey whats up, or how are you. Daniel and I are starting to say it now when we greet people.

3. They say "cheers" here kind of like an informal thank you. People look at you funny if you say thank you. We say cheers all the time now.

4. I absolutely love the fashion and hairstyles here. Every person is unique, but they are always dressed nice when they go out. Everyone puts thought into what they look like for the day.

5. When someone tells me a crazy story and I'm like, "Holy cow!" and they look at me all confused because they have never heard anybody call a cow holy.

6. A sister missionary saying, "my companion was screaming bloody murder in her sleep," at a relief society activity, and then realizing that she said a really bad English word...hehe.

7. These pictures.

8. People here will call you pet. "Hiya pet!" They also don't pronounce their T's in the middle of words. Shattered sounds like, "sha-ered" Pretty sounds like "Pre-ee" etc.

9. People and grocery stores don't refrigerate their eggs.

10. People are the nicest drivers. When Daniel stalls out in the car (I have never stalled, ahem)  nobody honks! And everyone lets everyone merge like their just one big happy driver family. Don't get me wrong, people drive crazy and fast here, but at least they are nice when they do it!

I have sooo many more I could share, but I won't make this too long. We seriously love this place with all it's funny quirks and kind people. I'm starting to think living here for just a year won't be long enough. 

First Day

Oh the emotions of the first day of school! He sure can make me laugh. Today is Daniel's first day as a post-graduate student. He is going to have a great year, I just know it. If anyone can do it, it's this guy..the hardest worker I know! 

Lately

This week has been a busy one! Daniel has been having induction meetings everyday since school starts this next Monday, and football training everyday, but we have still squeezed in a little time to explore! On Tuesday was Daniel's birthday! Old man turned 26. I got up early and made him a big breakfast of hash browns, eggs, bacon, toast, chocolate chip muffins, orange juice, and hot chocolate. We were seriously so full the rest of the day. Poor guy had to go to meetings on his birthday, but decided to skip his last two so we could party. We decided to drive to Gateshead (about 25 minutes away) to one of the largest shopping centres in England, called the Metro Centre. On our way there we passed 'the angel of the north' (4th picture ^^). The shopping centre was massive! There were so many high end stores, fancy restaurants, and even a bowling alley and movie theatre inside the mall. We went into a sports store, and it was like football (soccer) galore! Daniel was in heaven. After walking around for a few hours, our feet hurt, and we decided to grab a bite to eat at this cute Italian place. The food was delicious, and the service was awesome.  On Wednesday we went to our first Mutual activity as Young men and women's leaders, and it was so great. I love those girls already, they are all so sweet!  The two top right pictures are of our drive to Stanley, where our church is. The countryside here is breathtaking. The green rolling hills, dotted with sheep and cows are just so picturesque! I love sheep, and they are everywhere here! Not to mention all of the quaint stone cottages, and little villages we get to drive by. On the way back from Mutual, I DROVE HOME! It was my first time driving here in England, and it was the weirdest thing ever, driving on the left side, and shifting on the left.. but I did good I think! I didn't kill the car at all, but I think I nearly made Daniel pee his pants when I almost nailed the curb going 50. Luckily it was late at night, and hardly anybody on the road. I was pretty proud of myself though, I was pretty nervous at first. But now I feel like I can drive whenever I need to. Looking forward to doing some more exploring this weekend, and running my first 5k race tomorrow morning on campus! Super excited. Happy Friday everyone! 

Sunderland

First proper English fish n chips. We had no idea how good or BIG this slab of fish would be. Slathered in vinegar and salt!

 

On Saturday we decided to take a spontaneous drive north east to Sunderland. We had no map, no gps, and no plan for the day. We just got in our car and drove. We drove about 15 miles and stopped when we saw the beautiful Roker Beach. We spent a good few hours walking on the sand, collecting sea glass and funny looking seashells.. We found a hole in the wall fish n chips joint, so we decided to give it a try. THE BEST I tell you. They pretty much slapped a whole fish in each one of our boxes, and piled on the chips (fries). Just when we thought our bodies couldn't take anymore food, we ordered ice cream cones and walked off our lunch along the boardwalk.

We drove along the coast for a few more miles, found the coolest lighthouse, and walked along the edge of the cliffs next to the ocean. I've never seen anything like it before. We drove north some more and saw the ruins of an old abbey in South Shields, then drove inland to Newcastle. Newcastle is a pretty big city, and Saturday night was the wrong night to drive around! We just wanted to see the Newcastle FC stadium up close, but on our way there we got a little lost and ended up in a bus and taxi only-zone. Our little car was sandwiched between huge double decker buses, and we were sitting their anxiously hoping nobody would notice we weren't a taxi, haha. But we made it out with no problem, and drove the 15 miles back home to Durham.  It was such a fun and refreshing day. I can't wait to see what else England/Europe has in store for us.