Ok. Now that I'm caught up on pictures...

I just decided it was easier to break up the pictures so it’s easier to organize and upload the select few photos. I have SOOOOOO many pictures, but I have no patience for uploading. So if you want to see them all, you just have to wait till I get back :) (Quick note though, to see them in order of what happened first, you have to scroll down. Wrest Park was the first place I went, then continue up from there )
WELL. So it’s been a busy two weeks, I’ve gotten to do a lot, and have a lot of promise to do a lot more! We’ve been to quite a few places, and we’ll be planning bigger trips here soon. I might be going to Paris with a lady from Mike and Karan’s ward which would be really fun, and we’re thinking sometime in October we may go to Scotland and do the whole Stonehenge thing. I still haven’t been into London yet, but that’s ok, plenty of time for that. I’m also working on a trip through Italy, and we’re considering going to Germany too. So lots and lots to do. But with everything that goes on around here, downtime to travel is kind of sparse. Karan is so involved, she’s such an inspiration. I don’t think I’ll ever be as productive and social as she is. We go walking every morning after dropping Megan off at school, that’s good. It’s fun and great workout. Karan is the really busy one, I just kind of tag along or be lazy at home :) I’m still working on making friends. Institute starts next week, so that should help the friendless situation. It will be in Cambridge, which is kinda far, but I think I’ve already found a ride which helps.
Other than that, not too exciting. I’ve just gotten more and more confused about what I’m going to do when I get back to the states, so no progress there, but it’s ok. I’ll figure it out!

Ickworth House and Oxburgh Hall

So this is like my favorite picture. This was the first phonebooth I saw outside of Wimpole Hall, so I got all excited and had to take pictures. However, now that I actually pay attention to my surroundings, I see them everywhere :)



This is called Oxburgh Hall. We just went here yesterday, or Sept 12th. It was awesome cause IT HAD A MOAT. For serious. With swans in it. LOVED IT!!!

This is Ickworth house. Another beautiful place. You can't even see how huge it is. At either end of those long corridors is like a house sized builing. The left side is a hotel, and the right side is a tearoom, which we ate at. But the inside is awesome, you can see through the glass part, so it's so so pretty.

Wimpole Hall

Wimpole Hall :) It was GINORMOUS. The inside was super cool. The first two pictures are of the back, they had a garden back there, obviously.

The front of the house. (Can't even see it all)

Like most of these places, there was tons of acreage to see, but we didn't have a ton of time, so we just went to the walled garden which was AWESOME. I'm only posting my very favorite pictures of the flowers, but there were so many gorgeous plants and stuff. Oh, and pears :)

Wrest Park

This Wrest Park. It's the house and then like 96 acres of land. SO COOL!!!

I can't remember what this place is called, but it's like directly across from the house like 1/2 mile away.

So this is going to make me seem like a creeper, but while we were standing inside the thing pictured above, I looked outside and saw this cute old couple. They were so adorable, I took a picture cause they were so sweet!!! Next to that picture are the purple girls!!!

Flight and Bury St. Edmunds

Mike and Karan's house...it's called the Stables. They guess it's about 16th century?? It's awesome, I really love it.

Soooo...Obviously I got into the UK safe and sound :) I was in the Altanta airport forever and just kind of messed around. My flight got delayed about an hour, but that was really ok because we still got into London half an hour early.

I think the most interesting thing that happened was that the guy that sat next to me on the plane was pickpocketed just a few minutes before boarding the plane. He was really quite upset about it, which I would be too. He was taking his parents to London for their 50th wedding anniversary, so it wasn't the best start to the trip. I just told him there was a reason for everything and that it could only go uphill from here. I felt really bad for him and think he knew that, he thanked me for listening to him, and even offered to buy me a drink ;). I said no of course, but I thought it was funny.

Anyways, I didn't sleep much on the plane, so I was completely exhausted. I got to the airport, made it through customs, BARELY, and went to claim my baggage. Well that was an ordeal in and of itself. I waited, and waited, thinking, "of course it's lost". And it was. Well, actually Billings is just really stupid and didn't tag my luggage to be sent all the way through and didn't tell anyone, so no luggage for me for a couple of days.

Got in to Mike and Karan's around 3:30 in the afternoon and was totally dead. I managed to stay up until about 6pm, but I was approaching 26 hours with no sleep, and had only gotten about 3 hours of sleep the previous night. All is well though, I'm adjusting fairly well, so that's nice.

The first full day I was here, we went to the market in Bury St. Edmunds, the towne about ten minutes away from Elmswell. OH MY GOSH. Seriously, just so beautiful. And it's just so so cool. All these little shops and stuff, it's just beyond words. Just like in the movies, so I quite enjoyed myself. We also went to the Abbey gardens, and the cathedral. It's all just incredibly beautiful and all the history is really fascinating. To think theses things have been here for thousands of years is just astounding.

I love everything about this place. The culture, the atmosphere, the people. I love listening to everyone and realizing I'm the one with the accent. I love that it's sunny one minute then couldy and windy the next and back again. I love lying on my bed and listening to the rain come down, and that it has happened everyday.

I love all the people I've met, they are all so nice. I've been called dearie about ten times, and think it's so cute. It's so hard to believe I'm actually in England, it's still a little surreal. But I'm looking forward to all these new experiences!

Edmund St. Bury Cathedral

Gardens inside the Abbey gate

The Market