More on London

On Day 2 in London we knew we were going to have to tackle the underground in order for us to be able to really get around to see everything. Looking at the tube map I had no idea how the trains connected so I chose the line that seemed like it would takes us in the general direction we wanted to go. It dumped us off by the river. As we walked along the Thames we saw The Tower Bridge. I knew The Tower was near the Tower Bridge and I definitely wanted to go there so we headed towards it.

You can see Tower Bridge in the back of our photo below. It was like a dream for me. I couldn't believe I was in London. At that moment it hit me. After reading so much history on the city I was finally there.

Then as we were about to cross Tower Bridge I saw The Tower. Its directly behind us in the below photo. I kept thinking, this is where Henry VIII once was and where Anne's head was chopped off.

It was early so the sun was in a bad spot for pics. This was the best shot we got of Tower Bridge. It doesn't do it justice. It was fun to walk across.

And below is the The Tower entrance. I was in complete awe of this place. Just to think of how it was here a thousand years ago. (On a gory note they had a place under the bridge where they said all the dead bodies dropped in the Thames would wash up, lovely.)

Walking in...drum roll please.

I couldn't get over the doorways. I loved the arches and super old wood doors.

The staircases were tiny, steep and super narrow. Its amazing how much they would let you explore. We even got to walk through some of the dungeon torture chambers where they had examples of devices like the Rack. It gives me the chills when I think of all the torture devices and how many were tortured over religious beliefs/differences.

Most of the outer walls are the chambers where prisoners were held...the middle White Tower is where the kings generally would be when they were there. (Zack is standing in front of it below.) Inside was a huge Henry VIII exhibit where they showed real weapons and armour of his. It would have been better to see it all except by then it was packed and there were way to many smelly foreigner's.

Our feet were killing by the time we left so we went back to our hotel to sleep.

After napping for like 2 hours we got ready and headed back out. We weren't in the mood to hit up more tourist spots so we headed to South Kensington to walk around a bit. If I ever go again Kensington is where I would stay. There were tons of museums like the one Zack is standing in front of above. The buildings in London are so beautiful you can walk forever and never get bored. We ended up at Kensington Gardens which is a huge park with English gardens and walkways all over. Kensington Palace was closed on the inside but we did walk along the grounds to get a view of it.

We ate at 2 totally authentic Italian restaurants. The owners and waiters were all Italian with heavy accents and the menu's were practically written in Italian with simple English explanations. Another thing we noticed, they don't do American sizing. Dishes are served small and with just enough to make you full, not stuffed. The only problem, we ordered Tiramisu and they thought we both wanted one.

Our London Adventure with a little NYC

Where to begin. As most people know ,Zack travels a lot for his work and so he earns lots of miles and free flights. The only problem is that they are not usually with the same carriers. When we decided to go to London for our 5 year anniversary we wanted to use our free flights to get us to NYC. I used our free American Airlines ticket and Zack used his United. Zack was due to arrive in NYC just over an hour before me. He was to wait until I arrived and then we would head to my sisters apartment. After that we had a night planned of drinks and dinner in the city, and were to meet up with Zack's brother Gardner who lives there as well. We left Tuesday, July 7th. I reached my connection in Chicago and was informed that we were going to try and leave asap in order to avoid thunderstorms brewing in NYC. Not what I wanted to hear. We made it to the NY area and the airport was shut down because of the weather which had caused extreme delays and traffic jams at the airport. We circled in holding status for sometime before the pilot came on and said we needed fuel and were being routed to Pittsburgh, PA. We landed in PA about the same time I was to land in NYC. I called Zack to let him know since he had already been waiting for me. He ended up grabbing a taxi to head to my sisters. Meanwhile I sat on the airplane for another hour and a half before we took off to go back to NY. By the time I landed it was 6:00pm NY time and I had been at the airport in SLC at 4:30am. I was not happy thinking that in another 24 hours I would be on another 7 hour flight to London.

Arriving at my sisters (where Zack's brother Gardner was already) we were starving and headed off to the city for fun. It was a bit hard to cope since Zack and I were so tired so we called it an early night. The next morning we got up and headed to Central Park for some fun and relaxation with my sister Denise.

Below: Zack and Denise

We booked an overnight flight to London. It was to leave NYC at 7:30pm, route to Washington and then officially leave to London at 9:30pm arriving in at 9:30am London time. (They are a 5 hour time difference from NY and 7 hours from SLC.) We had high hopes to sleep. We brought Unisoms and Neck pillows to help us. About 2 hours into the flight we took our drugs and were feeling real tired. After about 5 minutes of squiriming around with my legs and neck to try and find a comfy position I realized I was screwed. The flight was packed and I didn't realize the difference between leg room in economy vs economy plus or business class. Its major. My knees were already touching the seat in front of me...and once everyone laid the seats back they no longer fit. I had to angle them to the side. My other problem was a family with 2 kids next to me. They laid one kid on the ground to sleep and the dad who sat next to me, took up part of my leg room so as to make room for his kid on the floor. I tossed all night. About 3 hours into the flight I made my way to the restroom to sit on the toilet and cry. Tears of utter helplessness as I realized this was going to be my official flight to hell. I soon regained composure and headed back to my torture seat where I endured the rest of my flight in despair.

I had booked our hotel right next to Paddington Station (which is the main train hub in London). We arrived at the hotel just before 11 and were able to check in early. The minute we shut our room door, we passed out for 3 hours at which point I forced myself to rise and get ready. I mean I didn't want to waste a whole day in London sleeping even though my body did!

So we had no agenda. I knew of a few things I had to see but I wanted to just do what Zack and I do best, walk the streets. Its the best way to find cool places and really see the city. I knew we were near Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens so I thought that is where we would walk to. We were still pretty tired when we reached the park so we bought espresso shots and decided to sit down in these comfy chairs next to a pond.

5 minutes into sitting down a man camed over and asked for 3 pounds (almost 5 US dollars) for sitting in the park chairs. At first I thought it was a joke, but he had this little machine and so we had to pay. Oops. We weren't going to make that misake again.

After hanging around the park for a bit, these rain clouds began to look pretty bad. We hadn't ventured to learn the subway (underground) yet, and we didn't want to get stuck in a bad rainstorm walking home. We decided to head back to our hotel using a different street so as to see more. We knew the general direction. It just so happened to be in the Knotting Hill neighborhood which was gorgeous. Below are some photos.

These phone booths are everywhere. And look, the cars are on the wrong side. Its actually like that everywhere. When you pass people on stairs, etc. you stand to the left not right. Through me off for awhile.

After we made it back to our street we headed to an English pub to try out traditional Fish and Chips which Londoners serve with mushy peas. They have these old fashioned pubs everywhere and are huge into apple-cider beers.

This concludes Day 1 in London. I will post the other days later on as I have run out of time to post and write.

Natalie and Pinkie

Natalie has been totally getting into all the Disney movies. Her favorite by far is Cinderella. She will actually sit through the whole movie. But she does request Peter Pan and Sleeping Beauty everyday as well. Today she wanted to dress up and when I put the Disney songs on she began dancing with her stuffed monkey Pinkie.

And just so you can all see, I cut some serious bangs for my standards..see below

I see London, I see France, I see....

I am a huge fan of old English History. Who would have thought. I never enjoyed my history classes in school on America (which is sad). However, after the first book I read about King Henry VIII I knew I was hooked with that era. I have read so much about the Tudors, the Plantagenets and other various people of interest. I am fascinated not only with the people but the rise and fall of the catholic church in England as well as the beginnings of Luthernism and Protestantism.

All in all I have developed a case of must seeitis. (I must see this place or else...) And so after a month or two of convincing Zack that London was our it destination, he conceded. I have never been so exited to go anywhere. I cannot wait to visit the Tower and see so much history. Just to give Zack a taste of some of what I have read, we are watching the Tudors together. (Showtime series)

Why you may ask am I blogging about this right now...well I just got my passport in the mail today. Ahhh, its really happening. The hotel is booked, our flights are purchased and we leave the day before our 5 year anniversary, July 7th to embark on this journey. Hopefully I will not fall in love so much that I refuse to come back.

Summertime Food!!!

There is nothing better in the wintertime to me then having a lot of soup. I love to make so many different kinds...but once summer rolls around its all about salads and especially pasta salads for me. I found this one recently that I absolutely love. I just have to share it. For anyone looking to cut back on meat (and you should be) this entree is the perfect replacement. Beans are so much better at giving you protein since they are easier to digest then meat. So here it is for you to try:


Whole Wheat Pasta w/Ricotta & Vegetables:

8 ounces of whole wheat penne
2 1/2 cups of broccoli florets
1 1/2 cups of fresh or frozen beans cut into 1 inch pieces

Cook the pasta and the last 3 minutes of boiling add the green beans and broccoli. Drain and combine with ricotta mixture, 2 large tomatoes chopped, 1 can of rinsed and drained Kidney Beans, and 1/4 cup of grated parm cheese.

Ricotta Mixture:

1 1/4 cup of Ricotta
1/3 cup of snipped fresh basil (must be fresh)
1 tsp of dried Thyme
4 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp of Olive oil
1 garlic clove minced
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of pepper


Then just serve with Corn on the Cob or Bread with Balsamic/Olive Oil to dip in.

Michael Pollan is an amazing author of "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and "In Defense of Food". He recommends at least one meat free day like meat free Monday that not only will benefit you but our environment. You'd be suprised the impact all the animals raised for meat have on our planet.

I'm getting off my soap box now so you can go and enjoy dinner.

So, as I stated in my beach post...my dad just turned 80 and we flew out to suprise him. He lives in Phoenix but has a boat docked in San Diego that he likes to spend his summers on. A few years ago my dad got a serious infection from a procedure he had done and almost died. He was in the ICU for over a week. Shortly after I decided we needed to preserve his life story since it dates back to the Great Depression. I interviewed him and he gave me these really old black and white photos of him and his family. I knew I wanted to do something with them but wasn't sure what. Well, when this trip got planned I knew it was time to blow the dust off them. I scrapbooked each decade he was alive with what he was doing and what historic things were happening. Then my sisters and I all wrote something from each of us to him (a poem, letter, memory, etc.) and added them to the end of the book. It turned out so awesome and the night of his birthday we gave it to him over dinner. He started to cry and we all started to lose it too! Below is him looking at the book.

The only major activity we did was go to the San Diego zoo. Above is my dad and my sister Candice. We knew my dad wouldn't last all day walking so we talked him out of his pride and got him to sit in a wheelchair.

I am so glad we did this for him. It felt so good to suprise him and show him how much we love him. Happy 80th Dad!!!

Lots of Beach Fun...

It has been one crazy fun week for Zack and I. Last Friday we flew to San Diego to suprise my Dad for his 80th b-day. He knew my two sisters would be there but my brother and I (along with Zack and Natalie of course) were a total suprise. I will post more about that trip later today. Anyway on Monday we drove up to Laguna Beach, CA to spend 4 days at Zack's Aunts beach house. We invited our friends Justin and Nicole to come along with their daughter London.




Below are London and Natalie on the beach. It was so relaxing. We had no major plans. Before going we thought of doing Disneyland but after tackling the San Diego Zoo and realizing Natalie is a bit to young for all day excursions we decided life was better spent on the beach. Lucky for us Nicole and Justin were just as lazy as us, LOL! We would put our girls down for naps and then not reappear until they woke up. We found ourselves sprawled out on on the decks sunbathing and snoozing too.

There is a really cool rocky area that during lowtide you could walk on and it was covered with shells, tons of starfish, and anemones. Justin and Nicole happened to be exploring over there one day when they stumbled upon a model shoot. Mind you it was a swimsuit model shoot and poor Zack felt left out since we had already headed back to the house to clean up.

I am telling you- there is nothing better then the sand for Natalie. Everyonce in awhile we would have her walk near the waves but all she really wanted was to get super dirty and play in the sand. Talk about free entertainment completely stress free. Why don't I live on a beach.

Justin had this great idea to build a fort and then a small amount of water flooded in and the girls went nuts over it. They would wade and shovel sand all around. I swear they spent a good hour in that pit while Justin slaved to keep the waves from overtaking it by digging trenches. It was hilarious. Meanwhile they boys played frisbee and Nicole and I did what girls do best...layout in beach chairs. (j/k) All in all it was super relaxing and so much fun for the girls and us.