Once Upon a Time in the Cotswalds

So I was going through my camera this week and found some pictures from England that I had forgotten about! A few days after Christmas I met up with my friend Megan Hodun who is an American living in England and together we explored Stow-on-the-Wold in the Cotswalds as well as Croome Park in Worchestershire. Looking at it now from the perspective of being a student in Provo it all seems quite fairy-tale like. Enjoy the pictures below! 

Idyllic Cotswald Cottage

Beautiful countryside

That green

In town

I love the stone of the houses

still christmas decorations up!

Definitely qualifies as 'going into the village'

Look at that wall plant!

Great window shopping

I think this is where the normal people live!

A more humble house that is still probably millions of dollars

This may be the pub where we ate...can't quite remember

At night we wandered around the church cemetery....
always a good idea for two single girls to do in a foreign country! 

Such old gravestones!

Cottage at night

Then the next day we went to Croome Park which is an old mannor house that went bankrupt (think Downton Abby) and it was super beautiful!

Can you imagine if these grounds were your 'yard'?

So green even in winter!

It's like the shire! 

beautiful view of the tiny chapel

I think this is the greenhouse or 'orangerie' as the fancy people called it

"The woods, the hills, the little rivers...."

The colors are just exquisite! 

little lens rainbow 

If you lived here you'd be home now

I wouldn't mind that being the view out my window!

They are renovating the main house right now so inside it has some really random modern artwork-
like these feet disappearing into the wall!

Or these balloon arm hands that blow out when inflated with air!

There were also families there for a stroll in the park

Exploring!

Windy!

My friend the sphinx 

Not a bad back door

There's something so charming about little bridges

Beautiful Megan 

Le paysage

The estate was quite large including many smaller buildings 

The river was brown at parts and the trail sometimes got muddy but it was totally worth it

Being cool...

...again...

...and again...

and again!

walk back up to the parking lot

Makes me feel like Robin Hood or something looking at this

a glance back at the beauty 

Well friends, there it is--My magical England. I'm so lucky to have gotten to be there. One day I'll be back.

Soon.

Where's Jenny 2016?

Alright, since it's still technically January I'm still allowed to talk about goals and the changing new year, blah blah blah.

Well, let me begin with just a brief reflection- this past year has been absolutely incredible. The day that things really started coming together for me last winter semester (with getting good news on my potential internship in Holland / trip to Uganda) I walked out of my apartment and saw the funniest thing written in chalk on a driveway. It was so random but it just said in big letters #WheresJenny2015? 

I thought that was pretty good. And since then, that's been my little inner theme for myself as I go on all these adventures. In 2015 I found myself in St. Louis, Chicago, Salt Lake, Provo, Rochester NY, Gulf Shores Alabama, London, Kampala, Gulu, Manti, Amsterdam, The Hague, Antwerp, Paris, Berlin, Oslo, Flam (Norway), Harlem (NL), Delft, Vienna, Yorkshire, Nottingham, Birmingham, Cardiff and all sorts of places in between! 

To sum that up in a more compact way this past year I have been in 9 different countries! I lived alone in Europe doing a professional internship. I started my own Solar company (with mixed success, but I did do it!) and I successfully completed another semester of school. Not too shabby and some good things to remember when I feel down on myself! I've done a lot in the year since I returned home from my mission! 

Which kind of sets this year up for some great expectations. How could 2016 possibly live up to 2015? Well, I'm graduating for one thing! I'll walk in April and then finish two econ classes that I need spring semester and be done by June. After that I'll be moving who knows where! I want to move to DC or Boston to work but there's really no saying. I'll probably have an excuse to go back to Europe for a friend's wedding if I can muster up the money, my brother will get hitched and I'll become an aunt again!  

And all this is just the stuff I know of! So, yeah 2016 should be nothing to stick my nose up at! Here's to many more adventures in Provo and Beyond! 

To start the year off, here's a review of my January in pictures: 

I made the questionable choice of flying out on New Years morning from Birmingham.
There was no personalized in-flight entertainment.  Luckily the Shipps gave me
 the latest season of Doctor Who to downloaded from iTunes.
I binge-watched while eating Jelly Babies.

I was very tired and had no voice when I got to Utah.
Luckily Mike and Lottie were nice enough to pick me up from the airport and let me stay at their house. 

As you can see, I really invaded their personal space. 

I got to see an American friend that I met in Holland who also just moved back to the states!

I reunited with Kristy! 

And we were so inspired by the hipster jewelry that we
decided to see Star Wars for the second time that night!  

After that I went to my first ever BYU basketball game with Lotterbeth!

I got some priceless wisdom from Tina Fey in point #4

I binge ate healthy food sporadically with cookies.

I got the most awesome Storm Trooper shirt ever from Emily!

I checked out the new Provo City Center Temple open house. It's absolutely beautiful!

Emily sent me a cool antique map water bottle! 

Ashley and Dieds visited from Holland and we got Indian food and belgian waffles! 

Lottie performed at Velour

On my road to spinsterhood I decided to start painting modern art!

And I spent a lot of time on campus!

Well, that's 2016 so far! Here's to 11 more months of painting and invading Lottie's personal space!

Quarter Century Club

Well guys, it's happened! I've turned 25 and the best years of my life are now behind me...

Just kidding! 

Mostly ;) 

The last couple decades have brought me some great things and also some really crappy things and I'm pretty sure that's just life. To be honest, things have turned out very differently than I could have imagined and I get stressed out with the uncertainty of where I will end up, but I have faith that things will be fine and I'm excited to see where 25 takes me! For instance...will it be on a journey through TIME AND SPACE? 

Haha, cause that's what I did for my birthday! Sweet Laura mustered up all her strength (she's been very sick with her pregnancy) and drove me all the way to Cardiff, Wales to go to the Doctor Who Experience! It was great! And it was really fun to have a whole day just hanging out with Laura!

So, please, before I wax too existential about the meaning of life and aging,  bask in the nerdyness that are the pictures below! 

I spent a lot of time in the gift shop!
I think this is the Tardis from the episode when it keeps shrinking!

Shake hands with an ood

Laura can't figure out why there are all these tallys on her arms...

They had manakins of all the old doctors and their signature outfits!
I liked this question mark vest a lot...

They had an area with mirrors where you were supposed to practice
 the choreography for being some of the monsters in Dr Who.
So this is me trying out my scarecrow. Apparently people stared at us. 

Inside the Tardis! 

I looked into the heart of the Tardis

This my jam.
BBC has come a long way in terms of funding this nerd show

A Dalek! 

Don't blink!

In the gift shop I found that awesome question mark vest!
Luckily I tried it on and realized it looked terrible on me

There was also this epic ugly Christmas sweater which I came
\close to getting but will just have to remember through this picture

I think maybe the best part of the Doctor Who place was just how nerdy everyone was! Like, we got some food from the cafe at the experience and it was totally packed but SO quiet! Like this epic gathering of introverts! And we were all happy! Also, during the experience, I pretty much saved the universe because I found one of the missing crystals. And I got to help fly the Tardis while Laura held on to the handrails, scared for the safety of her unborn child. Good times!



The next three pictures are random but go with the theme of hanging with Laura in Nottingham

Robin Hood

We so cute

Gotta get my phone booth pic! Every time! 

Because we got back from Cardiff really late on my birthday and were quite tired after driving for hours in the dark rain, we had my party the next day. I had to go meet someone in Birmingham in the morning and when I came back, Laura and Teeny and Ellie all popped out with balloons and party hats to surprise me! Teeny was the cutest because she popped out from behind the curtains in the window but of course I could see her as we pulled up in the car. Adorable. 

She's a little firecracker 

I was very happy

And so was Ellie

We liked our party hats

For my birthday, my mom had sent me a little crown to wear.
We sat down for deserts and they gave me some fish fingers and custard (it's a Doctor Who thing).
Luckily I didn't have to eat it! ;) 

My Tardis cookie cake! 

As a present, Laura gave me a picture of 10 signed by David Tenant!
It is now displayed prominently in my room in Provo. 

Making a wish

So yeah! That was my birthday! I'm now 25 which feels pretty old (especially for being in Provo) but I think I've used my time in life fairly well so far! And I'm very grateful for the amazing family that has been there with me every step of the way (even when that way involves driving 8 hours across England and Wales to get to and from Cardiff!).