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All,



Just a quick note to let you know I got home okay last night. I arrived home in PEI at about 8:30pm (Canadian time). I had great flights, and found my way through Heathrow fine.



My last two days in England were a whirl. It’s hard to believe I was actually there this morning. We went to Bolton for the day on Saturday, and walked around the city centre, and went to an old Market, and then to the museum. It was a really sweet little town centre, then we were off to Beverly Rd. It was just as mom described it with the row houses, and the back alleys!



Then on Sunday, I went to Rod & Ali’s church, and then we hit the lake district again. We saw the ruins of an old abbey in the afternoon (amazing, so old, so grand), and then saw a circle up in the hills in the lake district that was used for trading and ritual ceremonies in the early evening. I was amazed at it’s age (from like 2000BC). Anyway, then we went to a café for more curry (yumm), and a perfect ending to a British holiday.



I had so much fun, thanks for your e-mails and encouragement along the way! It was a really relaxing amazing vacation, one that I will have fond memories of for a long time. I’ll e-mail you when I get some pics up on the internet!



Much love,



Me.

England Part #3

Evening all!! Let me first begin with a wee bit of bragging.. I'm an AUNTIE AGAIN!! Ethan Peter was born this morning, and mommy & baby are doing fine :)

Ahh... today was a cracker of a day again. It was colder today (10 degrees), but sunny and beautiful. We went to church this am for Good friday service and then headed up to the lake district for a hike up to falls (not sure the name, but past Windemere). It was surreal for me to be trapsing up those hills considering the family history (my grandparents honeymooned there, and my great uncle was a rescuer in those hills), but i got lots of pictures, and had chats with my friend Ali, which i was both thankful for. We saw some cool waterfalls, and enjoyed tea at a mountain cafe (i picked up some more postcards and some numbered prints). The drive there was INCREDIBLE, and we stopped at this old pub way up in the hills and i had Steak and Ale Pie, with red cabbage.. YUMMERS... the place was "haunted" which rather freaked Sarah out, but neither Roddy or I could see the supposed "ghost" in the pictures that served as the proof of his existence.

It was such a beautiful day, this memo will be brief however, as i am missing Emma's birthday party downstairs, and i need to get some shuteye. Tomorrow we will be going to Bolton (perhaps) - the city where mumma was born, and then on to Manchester. It should be fun fun! Then Sunday will be church filled, and i'll probably just look around Lancaster for the afternoon or something. Then MOnday i fly out, it's incredible that my time is over here..

Anyway, that's all for me, Congrads to Peter & Emily, love you all!

Michelle

Scotland#1 (or the allusive search for cold water)

Excuse my writing today, this keyboard is a bit doggy!!! I am continuing my search for cold water in the UK. My cousin Anna didn't believe me that there was a lack of cold water, and thought it was just barbaric England that didn't have cold water, but wales would DEFINATLY be better, we went to the cafe at St. Fagin's ( the Welsh Life Museam), in Cardiff, and tried to get some cold water, and i grabbed a bottle (that was in a cooler), but NO GO!!! Anna asked the clerk if she had ice or something good.. no go. so i drank my warm water :) This morning, i saw a Starbucks, so i thought, YES for SURE they will have cold water, | may have had to spend 3£ for it, but I got cold water :) Ahh.. it has been a wonderful holiday. Really, i have to say i am having a grand time!! Yes Peter and Emily i scored you a mug, one from england, and one from Scotland, didn't come across Starbucks in Wales.. sorry!

After i left you in England, i did go to a pub, had fish and chips (yummers - who knew that serving fish and chips in newsprint is illegal now?) well i certainly didn't so after i got over my initial dissapointment, i quite enjoyed them! I then went to the National Museam and REAlly got to see Van Go (excuse my spelling, i am a Canadian you know), |Monet, Duggat, etc. etc. it was AMAZING, and i felt so privileged to see each brushstroke, and yes, even a few mistakes and bad compositions :) Then i popped on the train and headed out to Abergavaney to meet my cousin Anna & her new hubby Martin. Had a grand time with them, Martin is a sweetie (is having his 30th birthday next week). On Monday, Anna and | (Martin went out on his truck), went to Cardiff to a Welsh museam. Mom, i thought you would have really enjoyed it. It was like Kings' Island, but for welsh history from BC to present day!! IT was cool for Anna kept filing me in on Veevers (my family name) history along the way, even to the WWII backyard bomb shelter. (yummy BLT was just placed in front of me, forgive my munching). Then on Tuesday, we spent the day at a retirement home for horses, Anna had to take her horse to the chiropracter's.. yes they have chiropracters for horses, so i went with! Then we went back to Abbergavany to an appointment, and i went shopping in search of .... you guessed it... cold water.. none was to be found however, but i DID find a toffee crisp (my fav. chocolate bar).

Yesterday was a grand day, we went to Beudley England to see my great Auntie Elizabeth (Great Auntie Kathleen came with us). We went to the St. George (very posh), hotel for lunch, and i had lamb. (lamb believe it or not was the cheapest thing on the menu!). Anyway, then they drove me to Sturbridge station to catch the train to lancaster. I stopped in Birmingham ( Nasty little city, felt much like a big american city - yelk), and then on the transfer sat next to a really interesting bloke from Lancaster, (very strange), anyway, had a great time chatting it up, and then Roddie met me in Lancaster. Had a great night with the Lambies and Sarah, and then today jumped on a train at 6:00am for Edinborgh, which is where i am right now!! ;) I saw the Edinbergh castle (how do you spell that?), a Scotch Whiskey distillery history place, and the palace of holyroodhouse (the queen's residence here in Scotland) This is SUCH an amazing city, can't wait to show you my pictures. Scotland is like coming home for me, i feel very comfortable here!!

:) Well this keyboard is nasty, and i need to eat ( haven't had a bite yet today). So here are my "Quirkey Brittish Observations" for today...

Besides the "normal" strange words they use... (ie. loo for bathroom, flush for toilet) .. i have discovered a few others... way out not exit, toilets that are locked are called engaged not occupied.. a transport truck is a lorrey....windshields on cars are screens, and a DIY is like home depot (stands for Do it yourself stores)..

Okay.. that's a brief observations by Michelle. I've met some neat people today, a guy from Toronto (teacher on holiday), a man from Colorado, a couple from Virginia, and this yummy guy who juSt made me a BLT sandwich.. (why does it always come back to a yummy guy??)..

Ha ha.. love you all!! I'll see you soon!!!

Michelle

England Part #2

So.. Second day in London, almost as amazing as the first. After Michelle and i left you guys yesterday, we went back on the tube, and went to Picadilly Circus to find tickets to the theatre. We went to a bunch of different "ticket shops" (or holes in the wall). Our percieved value for theatre tickets were no more than 20Pounds, so we actually scored some. Stomp was 41 pounds YIKES.. so needless to say we didn't go there, but we did go see a musical called "the Producers". The lead was JUST like Nathan Lane in language, and vocals, so it was brilliant :) AND the "evil guy" from Street Cents, everyone remember him? HE WAS IN THE PLAY.. it was halarious - he played a gay guy and was fabulous!!!

We then went to find a brittish Pub in Covent Garden, but wasn't able to find one that wasn't JAMMED packed.. So we ate outside at a bistro type place, which was cool too see London nightlife go by, and hit the last train around 12am back to the hostle. Had a good sleep.. it seemed short (we didn't get out of bed before 9 though), had a real "English breakey".. complete with beans and 3 types of pork - gah!!!!! anyway, it was a cool experience none the less.. We jumped on the tube, and found out that a Left Luggage terminal is a place to store your bags .. NOT a place to find lost luggage (as i originally thought when i arrived yesterday.. anyway, my pack is stowed there until my train leaves this afternoon. Lets see.. what else?? Oh yes, then this pm we walked up to Trafalger Square, and then over through St. James gardens (SOOOOOOO Beautiful and TONNES of daffidols), to the palace, waved at the Queen, and then went through the war memorial, down through the "posh" part of town ending up on Slone Square, we briefly got lost, but we were next to Prada and Chanel stores, so we figured we were "safe"... and then we hit Westminister, and the bell tower. Now, michelle just left, and i'm back at this internet cafe, safe and sound, and this pm. the plan is to go back to Trafalgar, hit a real pub, and have fish and chips, and then hit the national gallery. :) My train leaves from Waterloo (connecting with the train from Paddington) at 5:39pm. Landing in Abergavenny at 9pm tonite. Looking forward to it!! :)

some thoughts on the Brits I did not know.

1. they suck at giving directions.. they just assume you know everything they point and say "it's thataway"(they are not being rude or snotty, that's just the way they give directions i think)... we've had a lot of fun with that one. Next time a brit asks me for directions at home - look out!!

2. They are SUPER polite on the tube system telling you "the door is now closing", "mind the gap", or "Please exit left".. so funny.. such polite little intercom announcements :)

3. They drive on the left side of the road, but they WALK on the right(ie, the sidewalks work inthe same directions as at home, why wouldn't it be reversed i wondered?), it's halarious, it's like they are directionally confused. :)

4. Their cars are HUGE!! People always say they drive small little mini's but I saw a full sized van this morning, AND a tractor.. (hmmm just like home).

5. THEY DO NOT HAVE COLD WATER!!!!! Every place i have bought water, has been warm, even out of the "coolers", we even had cold pizza from a stand last night.. wierness... i found a shoppe right next to this cafe that DOES have cold bottled water, so i've stocked up :)

6. Londoners are dressed to the 9's... MAN I am such a slob compared to them. Even in the train stations, and airports, skirts, and stiletto heels are all the rage.. really hard to imagine skampering around in those!!

7. And finally........... Brittish men are H-O-T.. (sorry mom), but really.... they are very very polite and Yummy.. :) I was walking down by the war monument and this guy with AMAZING eyes looked at me, and all i was saying in my head was "don['t stare, look away" but i COULDN'T!!!! he sucked me in.. Michelle was laughing her head off that this guy was checking me out, and didn't realize I was being sucked in by his hotness!! :) ha ha!! Nicole i can hear you laughing from here!!

Ah.. so much fun. I've run through my 100 Pounds pretty quick already, London's not cheap.. but there's lots of places to get money from and it's not going to be an expensive afternoon as the gallery is free. Vango here i come.

Love you all!!
Michelle

In England

Hey All!! Well it's 5:23pm here, which is 1:00pm Sat afternoon there, i arrived safe and sound FYI :) Couldn't get 3 computers to log into Yahoo here, tried the bus station, and the hostle. I had a great flight, i slept for the whole 7 hrs, or as my row mate said, I zonked out. I woke up to the sun rising over Ireland this am. It was clear and beautiful. I arrived and went through customs in a giff, and then i got myself on the "tube" and beated it across town to scope out where Michelle's train was due to arrive 2 hrs later. I found it no problems, then had time to kill.. so get this, i walked by the Thames for 2 hrs. It was BEAUTIFUL here today, sunny warm, and mom i found daffodils, a cherry tree in bloom, PALM TREES.. yes you read that right.. anyway have it all on film. Michelle's train was late, so had a great chat with a really nice brit.. that's what i've found today, people are SO friendly, so willing to help, and i feel 100% safe.

This afternoon we found our hostle, a very um.. "interesting" place TOTALLY SAFE MOM, just a few "quirks" :) our room has a security door, so don't worry about us, we'll be fine.
Then we went on the London Eye, and it was amazing!! I have pics and a really great book on the history.

Nicole, we found an EXtREME sport today, MIchelle and i just got back from trampolining by the thames. It was at the aquarium, and it said you had to be less than 15 stones (weight), we have no clue what that means, but we got some great pics, of front and back flips !! We are now TOTALLY jelly though, and in need of nurishment. :) We are going to try to get theatre tickets tonite, so i'll let you know how we scored.

Anyway, all is well. I'll probaby try to e-mail you again tomorrow before i get on the train, i'll see how time goes :)

Love you all to bits.

Having a great time.. And nicole i am SUPER exicted now :) Was soooo happy to see Michelle we're having tonnes of fun! :)

Me

Emancipated Thoughts

Eman's Thoughts

Clarity

So.. Clarity came this past week.. in a way I have NEVER known before. First of all a situation in my life that was So difficult, so terrifying, so at the back of my thoughts for 4 years was in one day removed forever. I am amazed at how one day can bring clarity to your life.

Another was a longing of mine, one that I needed to see resolved, and this weekend, I did see the answer. I feel free, I feel stronger for it. God has a way of sending His faithfulness to me, of catching up to me. I love His ways.

Days Like Today

Ever have a day when things are stressful, and complicated, and you are stupid? I'm having one today, and haven't a clue why. I was out at lunch and in my car yelling "YOU ARE SO STUPID, YOU ARE SO STUPID". Not sure what that was about but I did catch myself, and asked myself "self, why are you so irrational today"? Anyway, I don't have any answers, just this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. I'm trusting God to change it. To make it different. To put me right again. That's all I can do!