Tell the world I'm coming home!

I'm back in Iowa! I flew home on Tuesday - I took a taxi to the Hull bus station at 6:30 in the morning, then took a bus and a train to London, then the underground to the airport, and finally a plane back to the States! All I needed was a boat, then I think I would have had almost everything covered.

The night before I left a whole bunch of us met up at the Gardener's Arms, which is a pub just around the corner from where we all lived. It was a good way to say bye to everyone.

It is good to be back home and see family and friends. So far I have just been relaxing at home, then on Sunday I'll move back to Cedar Falls and start my internship.

I just want to say thanks to everyone who was thinking of and praying for me while I was gone. Your encouragement and continued contact meant so much! Most of all, though, I want to thank all the amazing people I met in Hull for making this semester an experience I'll never forget. I'll always treasure the memories I have with you and your continued friendship! Love you and miss you xx

The worse of me succeeded by the best of You

While I was at Hillsong church last week we sang "You" from their album "A Beautiful Exchange":

Invading all my weakness
You wrapped me up in grace
The worse of me succeeded
By the best of You

My heart is overtaken
My soul is overwhelmed
The worse of me succeeded
By the best of You

My dreams have found their purpose
My future in Your hands
This life would have no meaning
If it weren't for You

So I lay me down
For Kingdom come
Steal all that is within me
Cause all I want in this world
Is more of You

And the less of me it is You
Increasing as I fade away
Your life for all the world to see
God It is You who breaks the chains
It is You who lights the way
And Everything I am cries out for You

Lord make me more transparent
Your life in mine displayed
And let every earthly glory
Go back to You

Not just this semester, but looking back on my whole life, I know that God has been working in my life. As I grow older and wiser ;) I am constantly being humbled and learning that God is the absolute, most important thing in my life. I hope that God shows through my actions, and that by living my life I can bring glory to God. I don't want to just talk about it or go through the motions, but I want to daily live my life pursuing Him and putting Him at the center of my thoughts, conversations, decisions and actions.

The end is just around the corner...

I honestly can't believe that I'm leaving in a week and a half. The semester has gone by so quickly. I have one more final to study for and all I want to do is just spend time with all the amazing people I've met since I've been here. Good thing for skype, phones, emails and facebook!

I went to Hornsea this week with Jenn. It's a coast town about an hour north of Hull. We spent the day in cute shops and walking along the beach. It's so pretty because there are cliffs right against the coast, so you can only see the beach and the water and the cliffs. It makes it feel like you're secluded a little bit. We walked for over an hour in one direction, hoping that there would be a path to get off of the beach and up the cliff, but we finally gave up and just climbed the cliff. When we got to the top we realized that we had almost reached the next town! It was a long walk back, but definitely worth it.

Jenn, Noopur and I cooked a meal for my Thai roommate since he made us dinner earlier in the semester. We made home-made pizza; we're not really sure if he liked it :) but it was still fun. Manute, my roommate, leaves this weekend, so it was a fun last thing to do before he left.

After Bible study this week I went to a pub with three good friends, Robyn, Andrea, and Becca, to celebrate Becca finishing two exams and to just talk. It was so fun! I love those girls a whole lot. It's good to have people that have gotten close to and can have fellowship with. This morning I made pancakes and had coffee with Andrea, Jenn and Gupreet, and those are the times I think I will miss the most. Seeing Rome and Paris was great, but the friendships I've made are irreplaceable.

Family! :: Winchester

After Grandma and Joanna came back from Scotland (and after two essays and an exam) we took a visit to Winchester. One of my Grandma's high school classmates, Shirley Firth (Colin Firth's mom!!!), lives there, so we visited her and her husband, David. Getting there was an adventure in and of itself. We had tons of luggage; I sent a suitcase home with them, so we had three big suitcases, two little ones and a backpack. We had to change train stations in London, so we weretrying to maneuver all this luggage through the underground and Grandma wasn't feeling the best, so you can imagine. But we made it. David met us at the train station and showed us around the city. There are about 60,000 people that live in Winchester. It is such an old city; the streets are still narrow since they were built before cars and never expanded.

The first day we saw the Great Hall and King Arthur's Round Table. The Round Table is huge. We were joking that if they actually ate around it they must have had to yell in order to hear each other. "PASS THE PEAS PLEASE!" :) Behind the Great Hall is Queen Eleanor's garden, which is lovely, of course. It reminded me of the secret garden; it is kind of isolated and really quiet. I took lots of pictures of flowers - they are just too pretty to pass up.

The next day we visited the cathedral. It has one of the biggest stained glass windows in England (it's the size of a tennis court) and Jane Austen (amongst many other people) are buried there. They were celebrating the 400th birthday of the King James version of the Bible, so they were having an exhibit there for that. We had a tour of the cathedral and this absolutely adorable woman named Noreen was the one who led it. She was 80 years old and could walk faster than me.

The rest of our time in Winchester was spent talking and catching up. It was so relaxing and a nice way to end the time with my sister and grandma. Now only two more weeks and I'll be back in the States to see them!

Family! :: London

My sister, Joanna, and my Grandma Moeckly came to visit on the 13th of May and then left the 22nd of May. It was so good to see them and show them where I've been for the semester. Grandma was amazing; she is 76 and she kept up with the best of them while she toured London, Scotland and Winchester. She is such a beautiful person and it was a blessing to spend a week and a half with her. For the first few days they were here we did some sight-seeing in London. My friend Becca came with us, which was a hugehelp and heaps of fun! :) So, I'll briefly run through the days we spent in London:

Friday, May 13th: Joanna

and Grandma flew into London and both of them were pretty exhausted. We took everything to the hotel, which was both of their first experiences on the underground. Then we went to St. Paul's cathedral to listen to the choir sing. They sing every day at 5P, and it was so good! Grandma said they sounded like angels. After it was done we grabbed a quick bite and called it an early night.

Saturday, May 14th: This was the day of the open bus tour! Grandma was so excited! She was determined to get a seat on the top of the bus - mission accomplished. We saw all the major sites of London this day: Big Ben, Westminster, Tower Bridge, Trafalger Square, Hyde Park and Buckingham Palace. We also went on a riverboat tour down the Thames. It was a little cloudy and chilly, but there was no rain, so we can't complain. Grandma and Becca went back to the hotel after the tour and Joanna and I walked along the Thames by Big Ben and the London Eye for a couple of hours. We got to see the sunset and we took a video of Big Ben chiming. :)

Sunday, May 15th: We went to church at Hillsong, which was amazing! It is a huge

church, but the people are so welcoming and it was such a good experience. After church we went to tea at Harrod's (thanks Dad and Joyce!). We had unlimited tea, scones, sandwiches and mini desserts- all of it was delicious. That night Grandma wanted to go to a church service at Westminster, so we did, and we got to see the inside of the abbey, which is pretty impressive.

Hillsong church: http://www.hillsong.co.uk/

On Monday we traveled back to Hull, then Tuesday Joanna and Grandma went to Scotland until the 19th while I worked on essays and took an exam. They had a great time and good weather for the most part.

Tomorrow I'll post about Winchester, which was the last part of our trip!

Studying, Exams, Essays and Loads of Coffee

Lately I have been hard at work studying, preparing for exams and writing essays. I have two essays and two exams for my finals, each of which is 50% of my grade for its respective module. So far I have three of the four completed; my last exam is the first of June, so I have about a week and a half to prepare for it, which is nice. Exams here are not terrible, but there are things on the exam that are not covered in class, which is a lot different than what I'm used to in the United States. The professors expect you to do a lot of research outside of class and use it on the exams. You are supposed to be able to quote researchers and add in information from your own research in your exams, which are generally in essay format for the modules I am taking. My first exam was for Asia and the World since the 19th Century; there were 12 essay prompts and I had to choose two to write on for the final. I don't think it would be so bad if it was not weighted 50% of my grade, but it is, which adds a lot of pressure. Hopefully I did fine, but I won't find out until August!

My next exam is in Aspects of Child and Family Health. We have to be able to label all the parts of several systems in the body, how to diagnose and treat common childhood illnesses, and general aspects of a healthy family. There is a lot of information, but I have a lot more time to study for this one, so that is good.

This last week my grandma and sister came for a visit, so I will put up a post about their visit this week. It was so good to have them and it went by quickly. Today it rained a whole lot, and actually thundered, which was the first thunderstorm I've witnessed since being here! Tonight a couple friends and I are cooking a meal for my Thai flatmate since he made us dinner earlier in the semester, then I'm going to spend some time with a good friend, Andrea, later tonight. I am looking forward to it, but it means that I have to put in some good study time this afternoon!

Barcelona, Paris, and London

I am finally posting about the last week of our trip! I apologize that I am so late getting it up!
Barcelona is mainly known for its structures designed by the architect Gaudi. The only building we saw by him was his most famous, La Sagrada Familia, which is absolutely beautiful! Gaudi loved nature, and it is evident in the way the light comes into the building and by the pillars that are in the likeness of tree trunks inside the building. There is also a museum attached to the church with all the different models of the church and information about its structure, as well as information about Gaudi's life.

The rest of the time in Barcelona was spent on La Rambla and at the beach. La Rambla is a street full of people selling things they have handcrafted. There is a lot of jewelry and many other unique gifts. It was a little chilly while we were there, but at that point I think would would have sat on the beach if it was snowing!It was so good to relax and take it easy for a couple days. The only annoying part was all the women who try to sell massages to you; they even have charts to show you exactly what kind of massage they give!

Paris was everything we thought it would be: beautiful, good food, and rude people. Our hostel was literally atthe bottom of the Sacre Cour, so each night we climbed to the top and watched the lights come on all over the city. The first day we went on the usual walking tour and saw most of the main attractions. Then we went to the Arc de Triumph, which offers a beautiful view of the city. You can walk 360 degrees around it, so you can see the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre and Notre Dame. That night we went back to the Eiffel Tower to see it lit up at night. It was not disappointing! It sparkles for five minutes on the hour during night time, and it was worth waiting the extra 40 minutes until it started.

Our last day we visited Notre Dame and the Louvre. Notre Dame has huge, intricate stained glass windows, and there is also a lot of information in the church explaining its history. Unfortunately it was all in French and we did not take the audio guide, but it was still good to walk around and see everything. The Louvre is huge. You could spend a week there and still not see everything if you took the time to read and really look at everything. We only visited one wing, partly because at this point we were exhausted, but one wing takes a couple hours to go through. So, we saw the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo, and much, much more art. I love art museums, so itwas nice to take some time to enjoy walking around and enjoying everything, but we really could have used the whole day there.

I missed my plane out of Paris! So sadly I did not make it to London in time for the royal wedding, but I did stream it live from my laptop. It was beautiful and I read all about it in the newspaper the next day. :)