General Conference

I'm pretty excited that this weekend I get to hear from the living prophet on the earth, Thomas S Monson! Not to mention the rest of the general authorities.

It will be great. I have been gleaning little gems from General Conference since I've been a mother. As opposed to what my general conference experience used to be like: note book, pen, watching every minute of every session. Now that I have children though, things are different. Between the three kids, it is kind of tricky to get a whole talk in uninterrupted. Is it just me?? Rather than watching every minute, my goal is to hear as much as I can. To listen intently, which doesn't always work. One can try.

The plan is to get the kids involved. Guess what the church does now? Just found out they do a whole list of activities for children. If you have little ones who need entertaining during conference, check out the link. I will be printing off a few of those beauties. Who knows, it might bring back getting in a whole talk. ;)

London

I could not fly all that distance, stay in Oxford and not visit London. So on one of the days, I hopped on a bus and rode almost two hours into London. I settled into my seat on top of a double decker bus and opened my Kindle, only to discover the battery was dead- I must have accidentally left it on the night before! Uhg. So it was much more of a scenic drive than I had originally planned.

Once in London, it took me awhile to get my barrings. Then I bought a tube ticket and ventured to find Trafalgar Square and go to the National Gallery. I had to ask a few locals for help along the way (I am a believer in asking the locals for help with directions and it works most of the time) but I made it to Trafalgar Square enjoyed being outside for a bit, and then went into the National Gallery.

Trafalgar Square

View of Big Ben from the Gallery- the closest I got to it...

If you enjoy museums and are ever in London, go to the National Gallery. Its. free. I saw some De Vinchi, Monets, Van Goghs. Thankfully it wasn't the first time seeing work by these artists and I was better able to control my emotions than I did the first time.

See the beautiful blue sky? Yeah, it was quite dreary and dark where I was. Thankfully the sun came out later in the day. I came out of the National Gallery, enjoyed the outside for a bit, and then went towards the tube station.

Trafalgar Square
 

After the National Gallery I wanted to head to the British Museum (also free). I should mention that asking the locals is not a sure fire way of finding your way. I was sent in circles trying to find the museum. I walked miles trying to find it. I should also mention that I was wearing brand new shoes. Huge mistake. I only packed one pair of shoes- a pair of sandals and after a few days of having rain covered freezing feet, I broke down and bought a pair of Toms -which I love- but they are not great walking shoes for my feet by any means, especially when they lived every day this summer in a pair of Keen sandals. London shouldn't be the place to break in new shoes. The huge blisters were proof.

I made it!

Outside the British Museum- a kind passer by took my picture

Walls and Walls of the Parthenon... I've always wanted to go to Greece and see the antient ruins, and after being to the British Musem I realize there wouldn't be a whole lot to see.

Same thing goes for Egypt and the pyramids... most have long since been raided, so unless one wants to see the outside of the pyramids in person (which I still do), and not the delightful would be contents, then a trip to Egypt would make sense. If ancient tomb contents is what you want- look no further than the British Museum.

Some amazing tomb covered in writings.

the Rosetta Stone

Inside the British Museum

Being in the British Museum was serious business. It was HUGE visual overload. I walked around with my mouth agape most of the time while producing the rather frequent audible gasp. A huge disappointment was having my camera battery die at the museum. Seriously. Batteries dying must go hand in hand with my going/being in London. But if I've learned anything is that memories can live on without picture to document them.

I left, I walked some more, and I made it to a bus stop, hopped back on a bus headed to Oxford and got stuck in rush hour traffic. One would think a place as old and as crowded as the London area would have larger highways/freeways, but its not a wide open place like here in the states. While still in the inner city area, you are literally, a car width+sidewalk width away from homes in places. I guess the crowding creates more insentive for public transit. Anyway, it took almost 3 hours to get back to Oxford. Again, without my Kindle it was a long, dark drive. In the end, even the blister heel pain/scars were worth it.

Tim and I had planned to go into London together the next day but it didn't happen. Tim didn't want to spend the time or money on travel or sites so we didn't go and just enjoyed more Oxford. How glad I am that I went alone and saw my top priority sites. Oh how I love museums! Oh how I love London!
So, are you a museum fan? Have you ever been to London? Is it on a top 10 list of your places you want to visit?

More of the first full day in Oxford...

More pictures from our adventures:

All Souls College Chapel

All Souls College, Oxford

Looking down Blue Boar St, Oxford 

In front of St Mary the Virgin

I made Tim hop up into this little alcove and got some genuine smiles out of him.

New College, Oxford University

Behind Queens College, Oxford University

Tim by City Wall, Oxford

Hall way in New College looking into the internal garden, Oxford University

Bodleian Library, Oxfrord University

Floor of Jesus College Chapel

Tim playing the harpsichord in the Jesus College Chapel

Together in the Jesus College Chapel, Oxford University

At the telephone booth outside Carfax Tower

Radcliffe Camera, Oxford

...we can't remember which chapel this is in...

At Least Once...

Lets be honest, I love Europe. LOVE.
I think everyone needs to go to some place in Europe at least once in their life time.
For me, visiting Europe was life changing. My first time there was when my friend and I went on our 6 week long backpacking trip. I was 18 and lugged a 50 lb backpacked to 15 different countries. No, I didn't know how to pack lightly then, but thankfully learned my lesson and put it to use this time around.
There were many learning experiences along the way. Some good, others regretfully painful. Did I already mention packing lightly? Serving others can lighten any burden you are carrying. Giving your stuff to those less fortunate that you find, that you would otherwise have to literally carry everywhere with you can do the same. Or like having my digital camera stolen 4 weeks into my trip of a lifetime. A painful lesson indeed. The obvious result is that I have very few picture to document my first trip.
This time things were going to be different. I unloaded the memory card at least once a day. I was going to document things so I could remember them as they were for me and Tim on his very first time out of the US, to none other than, Oxford, England.
And now, the first of what I'm sure will be a small series of mostly picture posts from our Oxford trip.

At the airport

Flying into daylight over the Atlantic

1st picture in Oxford.

Tired but happy we made it!

The first day at Oxford the place was super crowded and we were exhausted. We dumped our stuff, walked around a bit ate a meal at a little pub then went to our room and slept.

Exetor College, Oxford University

Outside of Exetor College Chapel, Oxford University

Inside Exetor College Chapel, Oxford University

Exetor College Chapel, Oxford University

...a store not for the dyslexic...

At Oxford Castle

Tim playing aunt sally at Oxford Castle

Leave it to Tim to hit the Doll the first time he's playing the game!

Not quite what he had in mind for his first time at a real castle...

 

Nuffield College, Oxford University

Another chapel, at another college at Oxford.

Jesus College Dining hall

A delicious meal I didn't have to cook, sans kids, in the dining hall at Oxford with my husband? Yes, please.

If Tim had a cab, this would be it. What do you think, fitting?

Ah, cobble stone streets. How I love them!

Jesus College, Oxford

This is where we ate all our meals. Jesus College dining hall, Oxford University

The doorway to stair case leading up to our room at Jesus College

The view into the second quad of Jesus College from one of our room windows.

Aw to wake up in such a place with such a site. Quite nostalgic.

When they told us we would be staying at Jesus College, it didn't quite "click" that we would literally be staying AT the college. It was lovely! Also, we didn't know that we would arrive on the weekend of the Oxford Open Doors event, where most of the colleges, that are usually only open for a few set hours each day ad charge a fee upon entrance, would be open free of charge to the public. How's that for timing??