A Magical London Vacation: Part I

2016 was a big year for me, especially in the travel realm. Fittingly, I wrapped up the year on a trip across the pond and spent a week in London. The trip was originally intended to be a girls trip with Kellie and I, but due to some unforeseen circumstances, she could no longer go and Aubrey was on deck for his first overseas adventure!

After spending a few wonderful days celebrating Christmas with both his family and mine (so much driving across Texas!), we boarded a plane the evening after Christmas, bound for the UK!

We arrive at our AirBNB apartment around 3pm and quickly departed to go explore our neighborhood and find something yummy to eat. This was our way of making sure we stayed up late enough to help stave off the jet-lag. We had dinner at White Hart on Drury Lane, which proudly claims to be the "oldest licensed premises in London." The food was delicious and totally hit the spot after being subject to airplane food for our previous meal. When we made it back to the apartment, we crashed hard and slept really well!

On Wednesday, after an awesome breakfast at a nearby cafe, we did a lot of walking. I mean a LOT of walking. We visited Borough's Market and then made our way down to Big Ben just soaking up the beautiful day and all of the sights. 

Later that evening was Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Part I. We got cleaned up, had dinner and drinks near the Palace Theatre and headed to our seats. Unfortunately with small theatres and tall Aubrey, there was a slight leg room issue, but he was a trooper and didn't complain about being squished in behind a balcony wall.

We made breakfast at the apartment on Thursday morning- it was a fun challenge trying to figure out the appliances. We spent the morning exploring Soho and grabbed some tasty treats from a bakery in Chinatown. We found a neat little pub close to the theatre where we had drinks and played chess before the second part of the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child play.

Friday was our random hodge-podge day where we did a little big of everything. First stop was Old Spitalfields Market where I picked up a few scarves to keep my neck warm. You can never have too many scarves really. ;)

Then we tracked down a place Aubrey had found online - Junk Yard Golf Club. It was undoubtedly the most random thing we did on our trip, but also one of the most fun! We played putt putt golf in this ridiculously themed course... it was great!

 

Then, we had Indian food on Brick Lane (I'm still having dreams about how good the meal was) and checked out Hyde Park's Winter Wonderland where we had mulled wine and I took this ridiculous picture with a giant carved wooden Olaf!

We wrapped up the evening with a few drinks at a near bar called Apple and Pears on Brick Lane  and then departed for our Jack the Ripper tour, which was really good! I enjoyed learning about the history and research that has been done for over 100 years to identify the infamous killer. The tour guide did a great job bringing the victims to life and explaining what life was like in the 1880s.

The first half of the trip was phenomenal and we had an amazing time! Thankfully the weather (while cold) wasn't too wet as we didn't get any rain until January 1st. Stay tuned for fabulous tales and pictures from the second part of our trip!

365 Challenge - Week 12

March 20 - Sunday was the last day of spring break (a four day weekend is always nice!).  Around noon, Brooke, Hunter and I met up at Kellie's house were we enjoyed brunch and mimosas while the doggies wore each other out in the back yard. As Kellie pointed out, the largest dog is also the youngest! Needless to say, we had some exhausted puppies by the end of the day.

March 21 - On Monday, I showed up to work to discover I wasn't the only one with a bruise from the dentist! I got a filling on Wednesday and a bruise developed on my face. Carrie and I had matching battle scars from our bouts with the dentist.

March 22 - Monday night, Aubrey and I drove to The Woodlands to drop Tucker off with my parents. Afterwards, we drove to Kingwood and Catherine did my hair. By the time we got back to College Station, it was past 1 a.m. (technically Tuesday) and we were both exhausted, but my hair looked good! :)

March 23 - Wednesday night means student org meeting! These guys and girls make Wednesday evenings fun! :)

March 24 - Thursday, as I was walking into the grocery store, I looked to the left and saw these little guys. I chuckled to myself because I recognized them all as succulents. Not because I know anything about plants, but because Katie has given me a new respect for them during the process of her wedding planning. These brought a smile to my face. :)

March 25 - Good Friday! Aubrey and I headed to the hill country for the Easter weekend. Earlier in the week, Aubrey told me that he really liked my hair when Catherine had curled it. He briefly watched me struggle to curl my hair before we hit the road before he pitched in and helped me out. I've decided that he will curl my hair from now on, because let's be real, I could never get it to look this good on my own!

March 26 - Somehow Aubrey and I thought it was a good idea to climb Enchanted Rock on Saturday. After waiting for about 45 minutes to get into the park, we started our ascent. We climbed the Summit Trail, that went straight up! We made a few stops along the way to take in the view (and catch my breath!), but we made pretty good time. The view from the top was 110% worth the climb and it was really fun making the trek together.

365 Challenge - Week 11

March 13 - Sunday was a nice "sleep in" day before we headed to Chicago. It wasn't until later that we realized that we hadn't really slept until 10, but that we'd lost an hour and it was technically still 9 a.m. This day really was a great example of how great a friend Katie is. She knew I'd want to see Sears Tower and the Bean while I was in town and we trekked around in the cold and wet for about two hours to see both. The weather was crazy cloudy/foggy and the view from the 103 floor of Sears Tower (really Willis Tower these days), was minimal, or "zero visibility" as the employees continued to tell us to dissuade us from going. I definitely would not have had the guts to stand on the overhang if I'd been able to see farther than three feet below my feet. The clouds/fog definitely saved me in that regard. Afterwards, we walked from the Sears Tower to the Bean and grabbed some more pics. Thank you again, Katie, for humoring my first visit to Chicago and wanting to see all of the typical tourist sites.

Standing on the skydeck overhang on the 103rd floor of Sears Tower.

At the "bean" in Chicago. Even in the terrible weather, it was so shiny! You can see how cloudy/foggy it is in the reflection.

March 14 -  Monday was rough! Not only was it the first day back to work after a long, wonderful weekend, it was also the first work day after the time change. While I love daylight savings time (who could complain about more daylight hours after they get off of work?), the transition every spring is difficult. Thankfully, with students gone it was a quiet day at work. I had no meetings (yay!) and

March 15 - On Tuesday, Kellie managed to snag us tickets to the biggest Aggie baseball game of the year (so far!). The Ags played t.u. at home and it was going to be a good one- we could all feel it! Kellie and I had general admission tickets, so we were in the grass, but they were about the best seats we could have gotten! We were right next to the fence, which also meant that we were protected from foul balls - thank god! The Aggies lead the whole game. They were up 4-0 in the top of the 9th, when the t-sips scored four to tie it up. It was a little nerve racking to say the least! Thankfully, in the bottom of the 9th, the Aggies knocked a walk-off homerun over the left field wall to tie up the win. It was a great game and we had a blast! :) Here are a bunch of videos that Good Bull Hunting compiled of the walk-off homerun.

Kellie and I in the grass off of the third-base line.

BTHO tu!

March 16 - My mom picked me up from the airport on Sunday when I returned from Chicago. On the drive home, she mentioned to me that we needed to start planning our summer vacation if we wanted to go on one this year. So, on Wednesday I broke out the two guidebooks that I'd purchased on Hawaii and Oahu and started to do some research. While I was looking into Hawaii originally, I wasn't sure if there was enough to keep us busy for a week without spending just a ton of time at the beach. After reading these books though, I know that we'll have our whole week planned out with fun things to do if that's where we end up going.

My two newest additions to my travel guidebooks.
I have a whole shelf dedicated to them now. 

March 17 - One of the great things about working at a university is the holidays that go along with it. This was spring break at Texas A&M. While we didn't get the whole week off, we did get Thursday and Friday! On Thursday, Kellie and I met up at Tiffany Dog Park with our pups to get some sun and wear them out! Tucker and Laney both love socializing with other pups and people at the dog park and we love that when they get home it is always puppy nap time! Laney, Kellie's silver lab, is just over 9 months old and Tucker, my little rescue dog, is almost five years old! When did that happen?! The little guy that snuck into the photo's name was Bruce. He was adorable and so happy to be playing with other puppy friends!

Tucker, Laney, Bruce and I hanging out at the dog park.
Kellie always manages to snag the best photos of me, hah! 

Tucker dog and Laney lab at the end of play time. They were exhausted.
Also, don't let perspective confuse you, Tucker is definitely the smaller one of the bunch. 

March 18 - Friday was a nice relaxing day off of work. It was also the Aggie men's basketball team's first game in the NCAA tournament! Tucker cheered the Aggies on to victory as they handily defeated Green Bay 92-65!

Tucker geared out for the Aggie game.

March 19 - On Saturday, I attended the service for Rusty Thompson, Texas A&M's Director of Student Activities. I can't say it better than it's already been said by dozens of others, but the world definitely lost an amazing man this March. Campus isn't the same without him there.
The Battalion's article "Reflections of Rusty."

365 Challenge - Week 10

It was a busy week to say the least! I'm exhausted just thinking about it all again!

March 6 - On Sunday, Aubrey and I met Kristin and Kyle in Houston to go to the annual livestock show and rodeo! It was so much fun! After watching some mutton bustin' and pig racing, we made our way inside to check out the livestock show, followed by some rodeo activities! Shawn Mendes wrapped it all up with a concern in front of a screaming crowd (of mostly 12-year-old girls). It was pretty neat when they all turned their phone lights on and used them like lighters, swaying back and forth. It was a really fun night and it was great to spend some more time with these two. :)

View from our seats at the Sean Mendes concert.

Kyle, Kristin, me, and Aubrey. 

March 7 - On Monday, I received Katie's "will you be my bridesmaid" package and I was so thrilled for it to finally be "official," although I'd known for months. I am so honored to be standing by three of my best friends as they marry the loves of their lives in October (yes- all in October). Each of them will be a beautiful bride. I can't wait for an eventful and exciting fall!

Cards from Megan, Katie, and Kristin. <3 

March 8 - On Tuesday, the executive team of the Brazos County A&M Club snagged some tickets to the suite at the Aggie baseball game. The game was great and the Ags beat Northwestern State 6-7. It looks like it's going to be a good year for baseball (*crosses fingers*).

View from the suite at Olsen Field at Bluebell Park!

March 9 - On Wednesday, Megan was in town because she was helping a professor out the next day with some curriculum planning (how cool is that!?). Aubrey made dinner for us and then we took on Aubrey in two rounds of Jeopardy. We won the first one, but got destroyed in round two. At the end of the night, I took and posted this photo of Tucker in his new favorite color as an indicator of things to come! :)

The official camp mascot!

March 10 - On Thursday, I finally got to share a secret I'd been keeping for a while. I was nominated and selected to serve as a namesake for Fish Camp 2016. This is such a huge honor! Since I was heavily involved with Fish Camp as a student at Texas A&M, it meant even more to me to come "full circle" in the Fish Camp world. I met my two co-chairs weeks ago and we finally met our 24 counselors Thursday evening. I cannot wait to get to know them all more over these next few months before we head to Lakeview to welcome the Class of 2020!

Session F Purple Camp Smith co-chairs! 

Session F Purple Camp Smith! 

March 11 - I took Friday off of work and set out for Chicago to visit Katie. I hadn't seen her since late 2015, before she moved to her new home in Illinois. I couldn't have asked for a better weekend with a great friend. We got to catch up on life and relive some stories from Italy. We spent Friday evening at a local dive bar called Suzy's, where we had some beer and pizza. It was delish!

Katie & I at Suzy's.

March 12 - We kicked off Saturday morning with brunch in Naperville followed by a wine tasting at a local winery. Afterwards, we dropped Mike off at the airport and set off for some site-seeing. The wrapped up the evening with dinner at Signature Room on the 96th floor of a skyscraper in downtown. Then, we enjoyed an improv/short skit show at The Second City. Talk about laughing so hard it hurts!

View from Signature Room before the sun set. 

Katie & I at The Second City before the show began.