If you be my bodyguard, I could be your long lost pal.

So London London London.. what is there to say! I has been a very good week and i have seen and observed more beauty in art and people than most people could attest to. I cannot believe how much we have packed into this one short week here so far and I definitely cannot believe that this is only the beginning of our journey. The 2nd half of the week started out with some rain which I usually Love! But it put me in a really odd mood at first but got better as the day progressed. After class we went to the Saatchi Gallery which had some amazing contemporary art. Among my favorite pieces in this place was a room full of mechanical old men in wheelchairs. Now if you know me you already know that i have a slight obsession with old people so this just about made my day. It made me a little sad at first because their expressions were plastered with saddness and lack of hope but I found the overall piece to be really interesting. After the museum a few of us got lost and just roamed around the city and then that night almost all of us went out dancing for a few hours which was amazingly fun. It was great to see everyone in a good mood just enjoying each other's company and having fun. Thursday and friday were full of the Tate museum, the Wallace Collection, Les Miserables, and the Tate Modern. Each of the Tate's had some of my favorite artists and pieces that we have recently learned about in class and I was so excited to see them in person.The Wallace collection was this amazing mansion with art combing every wall and a amazing armor collection downstairs with some beautiful pieces. Les Mis was absolutely beautiful and I got to sit next to Eug and Kruegs which made it that much better! Friday night a few of us were just planing on being lazy and relaxing but we were convinced by a certain lady to come out with everyone and I am glad we did! We went to this amazing place called KOKO which had a mixture of live music and dancing music and again we were just all so silly and fun. Saturday was a girls day complete with farmers market, Observatory, starbucks, Pjs, parks, and a ton of pictures. We had a beautiful day in Greenwich and came back home to be hit with exhaustion so we spent our last saturday night in London relaxing. It has been a wonderful week and I can't wait to share more adventures with you all! I think I will be posting a link to my flickr account because i am taking way to many pictures for your own good.. :) Love you all.
Cheers,
Dana

ps. They played this song while we were dancing and it was probably the highlight of my night knowing every word to a song we danced too! haha It was also redone with a higher tempo so don't think im crazy. :)

London is so hip.

The First couple days in London have sure flown by, but I am having a blast! The plane ride was ok but I couldn't sleep very well which wasn't fun on a 12 hour night flight! O well though! :) I ended up doing some reading and watching a few movies and such. When we got to London me and 3 other girls I came with (Gabby, Rachel, and Megan) got on the tube ( London metro) and made our way down the cobblestone street to Lee Abbey. We are imediately captivated by the beauty of this place and we all embraced our friends and it was wonderful! So after we settle in we decide to explore the town and found this cool little live piano place. We sat there and enjoyed this guys renditions of some great songs! After we were all feeling pretty worn out from our travels so we came home and went to bed. The next day (Sunday) we wake up and go to the service at Westminster Abbey.. It was beyond beautiful and really interesting to see how services differ in various countries and places. If you are ever in London, even if your not religious I do recommend going to at least 1 service here to experience some amazing word, art, music, and fellowship. After Church a bunch of us decided to go to a London contemporary art museum where they had a exibit up about words. I am so blessed that I get to come and study here for art! ahh.. sorry little rant. anyways! So after we went to the museum it was time to get crackin on some studying for a quiz we had so me,gabby, sean, john, scott l., and meg c. go to a park armed with some cameras, our books, a guitar, and we have a grand old time just enjoying eachothers company and the surroundings. That night our teachers surprised us with standing tickets for Romeo and Juliet at the Old Globe! It was so amazing and it was their closing night so everyone was really on their A-game. :) Monday comes around and it is time for classes to start... I wake up really early and go to this sweet little devotional with the staff and eugene and then have class soon after. They tag-team tell us about what to expect and about what they expect of us and let me tell you, it is going to be an amazing semester! After class we head to The National Gallery where we got to see works by Monet, Manet, Cezanne, Da Vinci, Raphael.. just to name a few. We had a scavenger hunt with art pieces we had to find and the beauty was so overwhelming! After the museum we walked around and took some pictures and then headed back to the Abbey for dinner. This morning started off a little later than yesterday for sure because I was starting to feel the walking and over-brain-stimulation.. :) After class today me and gabby go on a little coffee date to the starbucks mecca and then make our way (successfully may I ad) to The Natural History Museum. There were some amazing pieces here including a whole room size devotion to the Acropolis. After the Museum Gabby, Scott Krueger, and I decide to take an adventure on a bus to Piccadilly Circus where we walked and laughed and talked and found some more amazing art and stores and tea and coffee! We come back to Lee Abbey and had dinner and then tonight was filled with uno and cards and poetry and pretty soon me and gabby are going to watch Ratatouille... Well, I bet that was more detailed and fact filled than anyone would ever want to read.. haha but I hope you enjoyed! I will be posting some more pictures tomorrow maybe but I hope these will hold you over.. :)
Love in Him,
Dana

doo wap doo wa

The last couple days have been full of errands and goodbyes ( I like to call them see ya laters..) and I feel like I have done so much and been non-stop. I can't even remember everything I have done but here is a list of things I remember..:
Bassam, Winning at poker, visiting kids already at Loma, Goodbye party, sushi, church, Doctors, errands, hugs,hugs,hugs, tears, laughter, sleep, top down in bella, polaroids, shopping, panera, slumber party, packing, music.. and thats just to name a few. I know that is very little detail but I think you get the gist. Something on sunday really stuck out to me. My dad's uncle gave the sermon at church and it was entitled, "why God why." When bad things happen a lot of the time that is the first thing we turn too. Begging an answer as to why, but as uncle bill pointed out, we will honestly never know. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD. - Isaiah 55:8. This is just so crazy and true to me because I guess when bad things happen we dont always look at the bigger picture. We are concentrating on the saddness and unfortunateness of a situation while God's thoughts are different. He has a greater plan for us in the end. We can't know what He is thinking and I feel like that is so frusterating and yet so beautiful. I personally can't wait to meet him and ask a bizillion questions. Anywho, the next couple days will be once again full of a lot of "See ya's" and packing and I am getting so excited to be with some amazing people who I love very much for a few months. :)
ps. Here are some pictures from my bon voyage! There were so many more I wanted to post but I refrained! :)
Love you all.
in Him,
Dana Beth.






ooo we can't forget John! Why is he so wonderful?? sigh.

7 days..

In 7 days I will be on my way to a new adventure. In 7 days I will be one step closer to finding that person God wants me to be. 7 days I will step out of my comfort zone and try something new. I am so anxious about these next 7 days... I have so much to do and so many people to see and it will be crazy. But I will also make the most out of these 7 days and love and laugh and hug as much as I can. Today I slept in ( quite an understatement if you knew HOW long..) :) and then a bit later it was time for my grandma Riley's birthday dinner. Happy birthday grandma! We went to Mimi's and had a delicious bread filled dinner which was so filling! After we came home and relaxed for a bit until around 9 when I went to this music and art thing with my best friend Tera. It was very chill and the music was pretty good. I came home straight after and just have been relaxing with mom and dad ever since. These nights keep getting later and I am hoping that it will help me in 7 days.. :)

I heard this song today and I just really enjoyed her sound and I thought the song was really cute so that is why I am sharing it!



Please note: Me and my brother danny are really excellent at making faces. Jealousy may occur.

..Unlimited Together we're unlimited..

So today's post is going to be explained in a series of pictures.. are you excited or WHAT! :)
Today was my last day of work and I am going to miss it a lot! I have been taking "artsy" pictures of the office this week and I thought I would share one... ooh a pin.. cool... but any who, they gave me a card signed by the office and it just brought me joy! Then Deborah gave me a bag of pounds and euros to start me off and then took me to get burritos. It was quite lovely as she would say and so thankful to have this job when I return!


So after work I drove to east county and met up with these lovely ladies who represent a bible study I co-lead in high school. During the summer and holidays we usually still get together (3 years later!!) and catch up on life. These are the type of girls that no matter how long its been after a few general catch up stories we pick up where we left off. I am so thankful to have these wonderful women in my life! I asked them to get together today so I would be able to properly say goodbye and unfortunately not all could make it but that's OK I still love them!



Dooooogs!


Tera is beautiful



My little Britt


miss jen



This is mean drinking a FROTHY latte.. (inside joke, don't worry about it.. :) )


tera and cori!


:)


oh yes.


joy.


So after I got together with the girls I went home to meet my mom and dad and aunt and uncle to ride together to WICKED! I have to admit I did not know what to expect, but I was without a doubt pleasantly surprised. If you ever have an opportunity to see it I would definitely take that offer! So anyways, we met like a bazillion other people we know there and sat in this cool part of the balcony that has like 2-3 seats per row.. I laughed, I cried, I loved it. It made me want to throw myself into singing again.. we shall see about that.. Any who, my mom and dad and everyone else we were with really liked it too!! Here are some pictures!

Momma and I with our program.. :)


I am so glad we got a picture with the poster!



Dad got so into it.


isn't he amusing?


OH, P-diddy.


Here is a song from wicked for your enjoyment! Kind of odd choice but All the videos were so weird. I loved all the music! Especially the "I'm not that girl" it just was beautiful and heart grabbing..




So anyways, its been a good week and I really plan on packing this weekend! We shall see how that goes...Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers as well.




God is Good.