London / Romania Mission Trip 2009...post 1

Here we go:
let me give you a little history on how we got on the trip. didn't want you to think we weren't good enough friends that you didnt know we were preparing for a trip like this. well, we didn't know we needed to. our pastor and his wife were slated to go but about 10 days prior their plans changed. jarrett was originally asked to go to romania (with me included - yippee!) from the 9th thru the 15th. then it expanded to two days earlier in london, then off to romania. and when the dust settled, we were booked on flights to london leaving dallas on 7/3 and heading to romania on 7/9 and then back to dallas on 7/15. luckily jarrett's family was available and more than willing to take on the girls and so it was a no brainer. i have been wanting to go on one of our high school mission trips since i first started attending prestonwood - over 10 years ago. and this gift was just given to us. it was more than i imagined. 2 solid weeks away from the girls was tough at times, but i knew they were having fun. i had to tap into some old wiring in my brain to the days when it was just me to feed, clothe and bathe....it was eerily quiet at times, no one's diaper to change, no one's spills to clean, no one to read stories to, no one to play dolls or tea party with. at times i felt lost. but the break from the girls was great.
we were with the high school choir a bunch, but were not sponsors or family group leaders. we criss crossed their schedule alot more in romania than in london. this was kind of tough. i absolutely love that age and to not hang out with and pour into a group of girls' lives, but be around them occasionally was hard. especially when i was missing my own girls to love on.
if you know me (and my family) we are picture takers on trips - mostly to an extreme. i didn't get to bring my "big girl" nikon camera that i got for christmas, but i brought my trusty point and click. this wasn't the type of trip where i was able to be too touristy. we had an absolute blast, but were there (especially in london) on business too. so i had to put some of my genetically given cheeseball travel tactics aside and take pictures when i had the opportunity.

went straight to our hotel le meridien piccadilly. located in picadilly circus area. i loved this district. felt like new york, but not as loud or fast and alot cleaner. great places to eat and shop and the theaters were right around the corner. right before we walked into our hotel, we noticed a parade going on. it was loud with some crazy techno music blaring and lots of whistles tweeting. it was 7/4 and i thought "cool, an independence day parade". so we walked to the edge of our block to see. nope. obviously they don't acknowledge this holiday in england. you can't tell by the picture, but its a double decker bus decorated for the pride parade. this parade went on forever and we could hear all the cool music from our room for at least 2 hours. there were more people in the parade than were watching it. i felt like i was on bourbon street around mardi gras, not that i know what that is like first hand. my first impression of london did not make a deep impression at all. i was looking forward for the parade being over so we could walk the streets.



harrod's department store. i was so overwhelmed by the place, i neglected to take pics inside. yes, we saw the diana and dodie statue and memorial. it was sad. all i know is that if someone wants to make a statue of me one day, please use that sculptor. their heads were theirs, but their bodies were of people in the cast of baywatch. it was confusing. here is me and jarrett at the ice cream shop down stairs. this is the last "skinny pic" of us. and in front of a huge dish of ice cream. we ate like absolute pigs in london because everyone kept telling us to stock up because we wouldn't have much selection or even a taste for the romanian foods - wrong....we ate like pigs in both countries.



here we are again, but this pic shows scott and julie seal to the left of jarrett. one of the couples we were with in london.



josh (black shirt)and kaytie (yellow shirt) graham were the other couple we were with in london. kaytie and i were the only ones who had never been to london (jarrett went when he was little - it counts even though he was too young to remember). josh was the natural tour guide and scheduler of the group and did a great job.
to the left of josh are our friends (also on staff at prestonwood), mark and starrla penick. mark was there taking a class, so we all hooked up that night.


ok. im too lazy to move this picture to its correct order. we had dinner at the hard rock cafe, before the ice cream at harrod's. this is the first hard rock cafe. same overrated food, but priceless atmosphere.



here is jarrett on sunday, 7/5. he preached at all 3 services at trinity baptist church. pastor kingsley is very well known in london and for his birthday he and his wife were invited to have tea with the queen that tuesday. i immediately became obsessed with his wife. i love the royal family and all their drama. lucky for us, we were seeing them again on tuesday night after the tea and could get the low down. can you imagine. tea with queen elizabeth? there are about 100 people who attend and not everyone gets to speak with her, only if she approaches you first. and everyone in london loved to remind us how michelle obama hugged the queen. not even her own children hug her. no cameras, but you can buy a video of the event. i was fascinated by it all. and they took it in stride. they were so humble, even afterward.