Travel Monday - London, England

First off...we've made it!  The 3 month countdown begins!

To say I'm a little stir-crazy would be an understatement.  I get the itch about every 3 years.  Western Europe 2005, Eastern Europe 2008, and the Honeymoon in Antigua will more than satisfy the 2011 itch to travel.  I wonder what 2014 will bring?

My best friend over at Of the Moment does a special post every Tuesday called "Travel Tuesday".  I share with her a passion for traveling and thought what better way to start off my week than to re-live some of my past travels and start planning for future travels?!  My goal is to make Monday posts somehow relate to travel.

Monday Travel Post #1

I'm somewhat obsessed with Royal Weddings.  Not just the one coming up in 2 short months, but ones of the past as well.  My inspiration for this post came when I watched a special on Prince William and Kate.  I remember walking around London and really miss the excitement of being in Europe for the first time!

 Here is a shot of one of my best friends and I in front of Westminster Abbey.

(Where William & Kate will be married!)

Some of my friends may kill me for this, but here we are in front of Buckingham Palace!

And here is the Queen's Vacation Home - Windsor Castle

There is no way I could post about London and not include a picture of Parliament and Big Ben!

I have one distinct memory of being in London.  On a rainy and dreary night we decided to go on a Jack the Ripper walking tour in a not so great section of the city.

To make a long story short, I lost my flip flop getting on the tube, and completed the entire walking tour in my bare feet.  Gross!  It taught me a lesson though that I have remembered every time I travel.  You just can't sweat the small stuff.  Especially when you are privileged enough to be visiting amazing foreign cities.  Things will happen, it's your job to make the best of it!

Hall Pass

Not as much studying got done on Saturday as I thought it would.  Probably because Matt was supposed to golf all day with one of his best friends that lives here in Farmville, but due to him coming down with the flu, Matt's plans got canceled.  This left me with the task of entertaining Matt.  He's not the type of lay-around-all-weekend-and-be-lazy kind of guy.  So after I studied for a little in the morning and made us a delicious brunch of ham, egg and cheese biscuits I went out with him to get his hair cut and see a movie.  We saw the new movie, Hall Pass.

Matt and I have the same taste in movies, unlike most couples.  We both like Chick Flicks (sorry to out-you, Matt) and the occasional Mystery or Documentary.  We've just recently started going back on movie dates and this one was right up our alley.  It had the type of humor (or lack there of) that we both enjoy and find ourselves laughing at hysterically.  It helped that the message is a good one for all couples.  I'm just hoping that in the future neither of us needs a "hall pass" from our marriage!

This morning we decided to enjoy Charley's Brunch (yum)!  After brunch we took advantage of the weather and went to watch some of the Longwood Baseball game before it was time for Matt to leave to go back to WV. 

 Watching the Longwood Baseball Game

I feel like I never get a chance to enjoy a Sunday, because I always know it leads to saying good-bye.  This Sunday is particularly bad because not only was I seeing Matt leave, but I knew that meant time to head to the library for a day full of studying.  I'm counting down the days to Spring Break when I'm heading to West Virginia and working on some job applications and moving a bunch of my stuff in!

A lazy weekend

  source : Greenfront Furniture

Lucky for me, I have a fiance that is willing to make the 4.5 hour car ride to visit me on the weekends that I really can't afford to get away.  I have my comprehensive exam next weekend (the biggest test I've ever taken in my life).  Essentially this test allows me to graduate with my Master's degree...or not.  I need to devote most of the weekend to the library which I'm sure will be great fun.  

Greenwood Library

source : Longwood University

Maybe on one of my breaks I'll get a chance to go downtown with Matt.  One thing that I do love about Farmville is the "downtown" area.  Great shopping for unnecessary things.  From Greenfront, to the Sleeping Bee and the antique stores, it's a fun way to spend an afternoon window shopping!

source : The Sleeping Bee


Hopefully on Sunday we'll get to go do my FAVORITE thing in Farmville...
brunch at Charley's Waterfront Cafe!

source : Charley's

source : warehouse

Be original...like everyone else

I'm about to hit the 3 month benchmark before "the big day" and find myself thinking that planning a wedding could be a full time job.  Between now and May 28, 2011 I will be...
1) finishing grad school
2) getting my teaching license
3) applying for a "big girl" job
4) moving to a new state where Matt and I know about 10 people (total)
5) getting married (and finishing the planning process)  

source : barelyhangingon

I don't ever want to look back on this time and wonder where it all went because I was so busy that I didn't really sit back and enjoy the fact that my life is about to change, drastically. 

source : thinkpeace

I'm not blogging to have a ton of people "follow" me, nor am I theming my blog about anything in particular.  The nights that I'm annoyed because Riley (the Great Dane) wants so bad to share my twin bed at my parent's house, I know one day I'll wish I could go back to.  I just hope that in 5 years when I'm feeling nostalgic, I have something to look back on and remember the "good old days".  After all, don't we have fun reading things we wrote about in our elementary school projects, or our middle school notes to friends? 

source : icanseethatstare

Here's to looking back and remembering some of the best times of my life!

The Family

Here are some people that I may talk about (a lot)...
just thought you should be able to put faces to the names that I will be using!

Where it all began - My parents (Tom and Chris)

My sisters
From the top - Cass, Maddy, Ally,
Kate (with brother-in-law, Paul)
Myself (with fiance, Matt)

Matt and I (in NYC - one of our favorite places)

Riley - The Great Dane that usually ends up sharing my bed!

*Disclaimer - This is not everyone (by any means) that is important to me.  I did not include pictures of some people because I am not sure how they would feel having their face plastered all over cyber space!

Home is where the heart is!

Here are some places that might pop up in some posts, so I thought you should be familiar with them!

Richmond, VA
Commonly referred to as "Home".

Longwood University - Farmville, VA
Commonly referred to as "School".

Charleston, WV
Where Matt lives now and I will be moving in May of 2011.  We will probably be spending at least our 1st year of marriage here.

Norwalk, CT (about 30 minutes outside of Manhattan)
Where Matt lived during my last year of undergrad.  I flew to NYC to visit him almost every other weekend for an entire year.  We hold this place dear to our hearts because we explored the North East together and made some great memories!