One Year

I can't believe it will almost be a year since the day I took off to what would become the best decision of my life. 

I miss this place everyday.

I also miss my crazy adventures with these boys. 

Luckily, that Seth Rogan looking boy with the green mohawk is making his way across the pond and coming to pay me a visit in March! So excited!

In the meantime, I'm watching countless episodes of Top Gear, listening to the Viva playlist we listened to endless amounts of times, and watching all the hilarious videos we made to cure my homesickness.

(Yes, I'm homesick for England, my "fake" home)

Missing London Town

I meant to post these a very long time ago. All compliments of Natali's great film skills. 

 (Our epic trip to Abbey Road, Natali and I have experienced Paul McCartney together, so witnessing this together was epic. 

While Natali was in town we tried hitting up as many art museums as possible.

(Monet at the Tate Modern)

(The sneaky picture Natali took of Sir Paul's portrait at the Portrait Gallery. Shortly after, we were scolded for taking it, oops.)

(Andy Warhol at the Tate Modern)

We took many strolls around London.

(The Globe)

(Camden Town)

(Riding a double decker)

(adventures in good old Egham)

 

  

(Edinburgh, Scotland) 

We had a blast while Natali visited! I want us to all go back!

"The" Story

The other day I was re-reading old posts from the past couple of months, just reminiscing about London and all those good times when I noticed something pretty important....


All of a sudden there's all these references and comments about some kid named Taylor, I just threw his name out there plain and simple, but never even explained who this mystery man was. And I realized it would suck to look back on this blog and not have any mention on how this fantastic guy came about. 


So I'm telling our story. 


"That's so sappy and corny Maggie".
Trust me I know, and if you know me, you know this ain't my style. But I gotta do it for those times that I re- read these posts to reminisce about the past and be able to get a huge smile on my face as I'm reading it. 


So I apologize in advance for going all Nicholas Sparks on you guys, but perhaps you'll find it cute and awesome and maybe get some aww's in there, then you'll go off to London and meet the man of your dreams too! Or maybe realize that he's actually right next to you and you just needed some aww's to realize it. So either way, I hope it makes you realize that sometimes you find love in completely unexpected places and at unexpected times, but sometimes it's exactly how it's supposed to happen.




Every Story has a Beginning


December 4th was probably one of the craziest days of my life, it was an up and down roller coaster the entire day.  My flight to London left early the next morning, and none of my stuff was packed, and there were about a million things (at least it felt like it) I had to do before I had to leave. I had spent a vast majority of the day at the bank arguing with them about my money wire that was due that day for my new house in London, I started getting some major cold feet about the whole thing, and not to mention, my stuff was EVERYWHERE. So I drove around town that day buying some last minute things while hoping my money was going to make it over seas on time, so I could have some sort of home to arrive to in London. I made one last quick stop at Name Brand, a local store we have here in Mesa, sort of like Buffalo Exchange. I had cleaned out my entire closet and took all the unwanted stuff with me in hopes that I could make some last minute extra cash before the big shibang. I wanted this to be a quick stop, in and out with hopefully some cash in hand. So it came as a huge surprise to run into somebody from high school as I was getting in, I was so terrified/excited/nervous/anxious the entire day that small talk wasn't really on my agenda for the day, but nonetheless we talked. She had been an old high school friend and as we caught each other up on our lives, London came up and luckily for me, her older brother had just moved to London a couple of days before. Now to be completely honest (no offense Taylor!), this news didn't even phase me as she was telling me, there were about a million other things I was thinking about at the moment and finding my true love in London wasn't really one of them (well kinda, but I figured it was more of a huge fantasy than an actual reality). Nonetheless, we said goodbye and off we went in our own separate ways, I managed to get my money over to London and had a home when I arrived and somehow managed to pack my entire belongings in 3 suitcases (I youtubed the best ways to pack, saved my life!!) and the next day I set out for what would become the best decision/trip/experience of my life. And little did I know this random encounter would be the start of it all....


Cue suspense here because I'm totally leaving you guys hanging....


I'm doing this chapter style, sorry!

Good Life

Have I mentioned how good life is right now? 

Let me explain:

1. The girls and I took one of the best trips to Last Chance today, we all scored pretty big. All shoes were 50% off, it was game over as soon as we realized that. We didn't even mind waiting in the line that wrapped around the store. The things girls will do for shoes..

2. London plans are coming along fantastically. I've finally figured out my schedule and I'm completely on track to graduate this May. I may go a little crazy getting there, but London next fall for grad school is looking great. Although, I might need to start working on not falling asleep as soon as I open my GRE book to study..

3. KaLyn and I have been busy making plans for our new house. We've got our move in day and we've been on the hunt for some furniture, so any donations would be greatly appreciated, hint hint.. 

4. Mexico trip to Rocky Point next month! 

5. Cali roadtrip with the girls in 2 weeks!

6. We're on the hunt for a dog. A cute dog. Preferably a chocolate lab, with green eyes. That can come to London with us and run around Hyde Park. 

7. And last but not least. Only 17 more days till Taylor gets home. And I have the best day of my life. 

the end.

Oops

Remember that one time I forgot I had a blog? My bad. I wish I could say that I haven't been blogging because I've been real busy. But who am I kidding? It's summer. There's been a whole lot of hanging out, relaxing and Lost watching. I'm not lazy, I promise. I'm just soaking up this peaceful time, before my back to back 21 credit semesters start, boo. But on the bright side, a year from now, I'll be packing up my bags to head back to England. 

So in the meantime, I'll be enjoying every second of doing a whole lot of nothing. At least until Captain Markham comes home. In 18 days! 

Re-Adjusting

It's been a week since I've been back in the states, and I still don't feel fully adjusted. I miss England like crazy! I just keep thinking about how I can get myself back over there. I miss the green trees, the accents, the city, and my housemates. 

Arizona is hot, really hot. I had forgotten how miserable the summers can be here. I've managed to get my room unpacked and put everything away, but my days feel so long and boring here. 

I apologize for not posting the rest of the pictures from my trip, I will do it soon, I promise!

On a better note, I get my new car today! 

London Adventures

I'm posting some pictures from my last weeks in London. Natali came to visit and we tried showing her as much of the city as we possibly could, which resulted in very long jam-packed days; but nonetheless, we had a great time. 

 (Mr. Markham reading, hence why I like him.)

We had a great time soaking in the last moments in the city. 

Time Heals

It's crazy how much your life can change in such a short amount of time.  I never would have imagined myself where I am today if you had asked me a year ago. I can still remember my exact feelings about life a year ago, and boy am I glad life has taken me where I am today. My time here is coming to a close soon, and even though I'm extremely sad to go, I have months worth of memories that I will never forget. I have met some amazing people here, and for that I could not be more thankful.  I have learned things here that I never would have imagined, and I feel that I'm going back home as a new person, proud and confident in my doings. I am very excited to go back to Arizona and start a new chapter in my life, I'll be going back to my America Reads job but with a new and improved position, Supervisor of my site! I'll also be starting my first semester of student teaching high school students, exciting/scary! 

To all the people I have met here, thank you for making my time here amazing. And to all the people back in Arizona, I'll see you guys soon!

I'll be taking one last trip, we leave for Scotland tomorrow! 

Shopping in London= TIRED

Natali and I spent the day shopping in London today. I'm currently dead on the couch, and I'm about 99% positive Natali is currently passed out in my bed upstairs. Shopping in London is no easy task, let me tell you. Tourist season is in bloom, boo. Which means severe case of shoving and fighting for items in the stores. Slight exaggeration. After encountering some very bipolar weather, we finally gave up with the rain/sunshine fits and just hopped on a double decker and rode around the city. But our sleepiness got the best of us, and we had to make it back home. 

I came home to a pretty hilarious letter tho, let me quote:

We have a few questions for you.

1. Jedi or Sith?

2. Would you rather be punched in the face by a gorilla or kicked in the stomach by a kangaroo?

3. Who would win in a fight, taco or a grilled cheese sandwich? 

My goodness, I laughed hard. Really hard.

We're off to Oxford tomorrow for the day! It should be a fun day, I'm gonna try my best and put my smart student look on, hopefully I can fit in at Oxford, yikes. 

And Paris next week, so pumped!

Picnic and BBQ

We had a picnic and a BBQ, all in one day. Awesome. The weather finally cleared up a bit, although it was quite and windy and chilly. But we managed to have a short picnic at the park. And a frog encounter, and I may or may not have flipped out. 

I'm gonna miss having this park right next to my house!

Later that evening, we headed over to the girls' house for a BBQ, so much delicious food!

Dance party in the living room.

Elliot doing the "Britney Spears straight jacket shuffle". You would understand if you watched VIVA as much as we do. 

Had a great day today! Natali and I are headed off to London tomorrow for some shopping. Awesome.

We're headed off to Oxford on Thursday!