Surprise day of the Century... My life's Century of course.

Today was gorgeous.  We were stirred this morning by a heat wave moving conveniently through room 5.44 of the Nido living residence (i.e., me and Daniel' room).  After we went to our Professional Development Seminar this morning, we went out to get some lunch.  We found that to satisfy our grumblin tummies, we wanted to visit the Borough Market..... superb decision.  This place was incredible (see pictures posted above for further detail).  There were bread stations, wine distributers, food and candy vendors.  Anything you could possibly want to have eaten, they had it.  Smitty was particularly obsessed with the olive vendors, which, if I do say so myself, were rather tantalizing with their open range of olive options.  After we ate and walked around for an hour or so, we headed back to the hizzy.  When we arrived at our destination, (asided quote of the day: "Please, mind the gap"... feel free to insert this phrase anywhere deemed necessary), Dan proceeded to take a nap while I watched a borrowed original British film.  It was not spectacular.  

Tonight, we went out with John, our new bud from Indiana.  He had some friends that he brought along from Scotland.  He somehow knew these girls, who knows?....  So toward the end of the night, I was talking with this one girl, and she started asking me all of these questions about religion in America.  It is amazing to see the random times that God allows you to use your witness.  I ended up sharing some of the Gospel with this girl for about an hour.  It was amazing to see the possibilities that lit up in this girls eyes.  I was just in awe of what God had presented me with.  He total spoke through me tonight because this girl totally presented me with an issue that I had NO IDEA HOW TO APPROACH.  God is truly the Big Cheese.  He is my Total Chillage.  He made that conversation possible and He made that possibility come into reality.  

Just when I was struggling to see the light, He came through with an awesome event like tonight.  He is truly a God of perfect faith, and perfect timing.  He could not be anything more, but at the same time, I could not be anything less..... and that's what makes it perfect, indeed. Surprise of the Century, of course not.... Of my life?  Yup, so far.....

We are the same height, that is neat.

So I bought a new Kings of Leon album yesterday (Saturday).  It was way past due and I just couldn't take it anymore.  After I loaded it onto the pod, I went for another run through the good ol' streets of London.  This time, I ran in a district called "Angel" on Upper Street.  It was about 9 AM on Saturday, so there were a few people shopping at the time of the adventure.  It was a gorgeous morning and the run was almost perfect!  Fell in love with the new cd, it's incredible.  Along the way, I saw something pretty rich.  While I was running, I smelt a hint of herb in the air (that's pot for all the naive brains out there).  It didn't phase me due to the nature of the people over here in London.  As I approach the smell, I noticed the man smoking the lil' doob was wearing a Manchester United jersey.  The interesting thing about this old timer, was that he only had one arm.  That wasn't going to kill his good time though, noooooo way.  He was straight chillin with that cheeba rolled up and taking hit after hit.  Anywho, thought that was a funny story bout my run.

After the run, Daniel and I went on a picture outing for the entire day.  I took a few pretty cool ones that you can check out on F-Book.  Kinda went overboard, but then again, maybe not.  (Insert:  Forgot to tell this story=> When I got home from the run, Smitty walked in with a 15" tv...?  He said he was in a park talking to some Irish guy that used to be in the IRA.  Said he used to assassinate people.  He also said he was pretty cool and that he gave us this tv to keep up with the news.  Smitty gets in some very strange situations sometimes.... still love him.)  

After the picture show, we went back to the room.  I then proceed to absolutely conk out at about 8:30.  Smitty goes out to meet up with our new friend John Bradford.  He comes back at about 4 AM and he is yelling something about his laptop being stolen.  I knew not what he was ranting about because I was in the room the entire night, so no one could have stolen it.... right?  Well, I start to freak out now because I think someone has come into the room while I was in a deep coma.  Daniel leaves, then returns about 10 minutes later... with the laptop.  He had left it in the cafe.  Good news for him, and for me.  Now I can sleep peacefully with no fear that my door will let strangers in.  Creepers....  

This morning, Sunday, I didn't wake up 'til 9:30.  That's right, 13 hours of sleep.  It was ballin'.  After I got out of the shower, Dan was still sleeping and I hear him say something in his sleep.  He said something about Nazi's and ripped the covers off his body.  It was very violent and scared me a bit, but I'm alright now.  After that, I went out on my own for the entire day and kinda soaked up God's glory.  It was cool to realize that God is everywhere in this world, not just in America.  He blessed me with an amazing blue sky today and some awesome alone time.  I just put my iPod on and walked alllllll day, just chillin everywhere I went.  I actually found a music area of town and got to play a lot of different guitars.  Really needed to do that, had a ton of fun!  Also, I found a Ben & Jerry's and was able to eat some Phish Food.  Reminded me of Kmac and home, which was awesome.  

That's it for now I suppose.  Miss all y'all and I can't wait to come back and see y'all!!!!

Getting lost, using the Tube, tons of F-bombs, and being okay with it all

So Daniel missed his flight.... twice.  I tried my darndest to get him on a flight last night, but it just didn't happen.  Therefore, I was left to fend off the F-bomb dropping, concert going, wreckless driving British by my lonesome.  Getting off the plane, all I could think about was how I would be stopped at immigration.  With all the problems I had getting my Visa, it only seemed logical.  Obviously, they somehow let me in (despite my past history of alleged terrorist activities.... just joshin).  Next on the agenda: Buy a train ticket to London Victoria Station.  Ended up costing about 16 Pounds.  Picked up my luggage and headed for the train station.  This is where the "Holy mess, I'm lost in a foreign country" feeling really started to take affect.  As I wait for the train, I have this feeling that I am about to do something very, very wrong.  Being the genius that I am, I decide to ask a lady if this train will take me to London Victoria.  As suspected, I was boarding the wrong train.  With haste, I threw my 150 lbs. of luggage (exaggerated for dramatic effect) off the train and lugged it back up the stairs to find the right Platform.  Proceed to the correct train and on to London.  In comes the crazy cab drive.  It was actually pretty perfect, seeing as ALL we talked about was the sweet concerts he used to go to in London (Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Rod Stewart, The Rolling Stones, etc.).  Yes, I was a bit jealous.  A 15 minute taxi ride and one musical conversation later, I was in front of Nido.  I try to check in, but my room is not clean yet.  In the down time, I figure I'll head out for a little while and stake out the area.  Seems pretty nice.  When I come back, I move into my room and grab some cash money.  I wasn't sittin around for any length of time.  E-Brock calls me up and says to meet them for lunch at The National Gallery.  ENTER, The Tube.  Now, the Tube is actually pretty simple, but the Oyster Card is confusing.  I got fed up with trying to buy a ticket with the card and just purchased one with the cash I had.  When I met up with Jill and E-Brock, we walked to a host of sights (Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Parliament, The National Gallery, saw the sight of the changing of the guards, Buckingham Palace).  All the while, I'm working on a lame egg biscuit from the flight and about 10 minutes of sleep within the past 30 hours, i.e. walking zombie.  After we eat lunch (I will post about the lunch experience later, too much for this one) I book it back to Nido for some sleep.  Post-nap, I call Camilla and meet up with her.  This about concludes the first day in the UK.  Overall, rather successful if I say so myself.

Though it has been great so far, I really felt this feeling of loneliness when I got to my room. Blessing in disguise, I am convinced.  I just had to sit down and listen to some worship music and pray.  It was awesome.  I also went on a great run this morning that gave me some inspiration.  Just reassured me that God is still with me, even when I am feeling lost and alone. Go God!

More to follow....

P.S.- Miss you K!