When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life...

Frolicking in Ambleside, England. The hills are alive.

wow... man it has been a while hasn't it? My goal going into London was to make epic blog posts and I failed miserably. Don't you dare shake your head at me! I will do my best to give you a few of the highlights...

London was amazing. Of course there were the moments of pure exhaustion because we were going non-stop for 7 weeks. We went to bed late every night and got up around 7 every day. I like to say that we were up late studying, but most of the time we were having deep discussions, eating chocolate, writing in our journals and swapping music. I loved it. It was often times just a big laptop or skyping party.

London Laptop Party

We toured so many places and often times there would be a audioguide or something but I made it a goal to try and have a good understanding of every place we went to so that I wouldn't take anything for granted. I would read all the plaques and in a few places I was the only one in my group to get the audio tour and everyone made fun of me, Moriah called me Nancy Drew.

My other nicknames there were: SLYNN- which is short for Jocelyn. JUICE- someone was saying my name in all these weird accents and it sounded like they said "Juice" so that one stuck. And the most popular one was GRANDMA because I brought a clothesline to dry all my clothes and I would always have tissues and hand sanitizer in my purse. And because I often say things like, "Criminey Jane" and "Holy Moses".

In front of the Edinburgh Castle

This is one of my favorite pictures from the whole study abroad. Don't we look like we belong on a sitcom? They had these awesome capes that you could wear all over the court it was pretty cool, I felt like I was in Hogwarts!

Man it was so much fun. There were things that I missed about home and people that I wish could have seen some of these places and been there to experience everything with me. It was difficult to miss a few things, especially one of my best friend's wedding. It was sad that I couldn't be there I heard that she was beautiful and from the pictures,that statement is nothing short of the truth.

Some of the amazing places I ventured to... Scotland, Italy, England, France

I saw the most amazing architecture and art in history... unfortunately blogger hates me when it comes up uploading pictures so I will try and post more later. Enjoy!

Sainte Chapelle, France- it is one of the most famous works of stained glass in the world, I was blown away... every single wall is covered from floor to ceiling in glorious stained glass.

Notre Dame Cathedral, France.

and of course

the Eiffel Tower, and here is a little secret... I kissed someone on top of it. Yes he was a random British guy. "so uh... it has always been on my bucket list to kiss someone on top of the Eiffel Tower. You going to step up to the plate?..."

While we are on the topic of British boys... when I was in London this guy randomly swooped me up and gave me a huge hug. It looks like we are in love doesn't it? The truth is that I was horrified if only you could see my face in this picture! His name was Jacapo. Yes. Jacapo. Luckily Jordan had her camera in hand. Oh man, this picture still cracks me up.

Oxford, England. How quaint and perfect is this?

miles and miles of amazing macaroons...

and the most beautiful cookies and gelato. Not to mention they were delicious. In Rome I ate 4 gelatos in 3 hours.

We had to climb like a 186,785,432 stairs to get to the top of cathedrals, towers and just to get to our bedroom haha. We walked everywhere I am in pretty good shape now!

...ITALY....

Sunset in florence on one side of the bridge, and on the other side of the bridge, was THIS... pretty sure it doesn't get much better.

Cinque Terre- one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.

Pretty sure we were the only people wearing one-piece suits! Italian beaches are interesting.... see below... YEAH. This is a woman. Jordan has very good skills when it comes to snapping subtle pictures.

On our way home, yes we were cheesy enough to have matching shirts get over it ;)

some of my favorite things

-Going to church in London. I learned a lot about my testimony and the willingness and dedication of members in the church outside of Utah. It was beautiful and It made me grateful to live so close to the temple, and to have several churches within walking distance of my house. I felt like a missionary and there was a moment when I was holding my teaching manual and a man sitting next to me said, "did you girls just come from church? So did I!" I replied yes, "We are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, what church do you go to?" "I go to New Christ's church, but eh, it's all the same god anyway, that's what I always like to say..." It made me smile and he is right, it is the same god isn't it and he loves us just the same.

Our sweet little kids in the crystal palace ward

-Feeling like a local. Playing soccer in Hyde park with everyone, I loved feeling like a local and the best part about this trip was that it wasn't a vacation, I was living there, I had time to walk around the city leisurely, go shopping, give directions to tourists, dress up and see plays, run through the streets in the pouring rain. Once I ate dinner by myself in a quaint little restaurant while I read the newspaper. It was amazing and I would normally be too self-conscious to do that but I felt great. Independent and free.

Florence, Italy

Hittin' the club in London for my 21st birthday, it turned out to be Brazillian night, we bribed the DJ to play some hip-hop just for my birthday

-One of the things I miss about London is having a little family. If you needed someone to curl your hair or give you advice about your outfit you had 14 other roommates there to help you. It was fun. There were 40 students total, 35 girls and 5 boys. We also lived in the house with 3 professors and their families, as well as the 2 house keepers who cooked and kept the London Center running smoothly. It was amazing that we all fit in that house together, it doesn't look that big from the outside but man it was huge! We had 60 people living there! It was just like living in a house with one huge family. We would take the professors kids to the park and they would play soccer with us, we would look out for one another and we became so close. Laying in hostels late at night secrets and emotions just come pouring out and I had some very deep conversations and told my london family things that I have never told anyone before. They really are my brothers and sisters.

BYU London Center, my second home...

Jordan, Me, Johnna, Tahnee at Hampton Court

I miss it every single day. I miss all the people. I even thought about transfering for a few minutes but like I said, that only lasted a few minutes. It is BYU. But I have gained a better respect for that school and the people there. I love them and they are my buddies, I wish I lived closer to provo so I could see them more. Umm... I got back on the 17th of august, people keep asking me what my favorite place was, but I can't pick just one thing it was all so great... I loved just traveling around england it was just so quaint and perfect. I also loved Scotland, I really can't pick. My favorite place we went was probably Boscastle, England. It was our last weekend of the study abroad and we stayed at this adorable little bed and breakfast on the coast of the Irish sea. We walked along the coast and it was seriously amazing. One of my favorite places for sure. We walked out to this big rock at night and jumped off into the water and it was so cold but SO much fun. We had a little moment where we all hugged for a long time and looked out over the ocean. We started crying and walked down the hill talking about all the amazing things we have learned about ourselves and about the amazing places we have seen. I really do think that I was in the right place and that that trip was exactly what I needed to get over the stress of school and last semester. I really discovered who I am. I feel like I changed a lot, for the better.

It really is all about who you are with, not where you are that determines the experience and I couldn't have been blessed with a better group. We laughed til our stomachs hurt, played soccer in Hyde park, got gelato and kababs, saw musicals, wandered the streets, hiked the green lush hills, and loved every minute of it.

this experience only made my thirst for adventure and knowledge stronger. I can't wait to begin my next escapade...who wants to come!?

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