The second day.

Getting into our hostel room.

Me in front of a fountain at Buckingham Palace.

This is from Harry Potter the movie when he goes through the wall at the train station.

This is our group in front of Buckingham Palace.

Big Ben!

* You can click on all of my pictures to make them bigger.

Let me describe the trip to London to you. My flight was at 2:00 out of Omaha on Tuesday. As I was about ready to leave to drive to Omaha, my travel agency called me and the man's first words to me were "Ok, don't freak out. Your flight has been cancelled." My heart sunk. However, he put me on another flight that was at 1:15. This means, we were in a bit of a rush to get to Omaha. On the way to the airport, my grandpa gets pulled over.....very inconvenient. But, he only got a warning, so it was ok. We got to the airport, and my 1:15 flight had been delayed until 2:00, which was the original time I was supposed to leave, ha! The flight was fine, but then as I was on the plane I looked at my ticket for my flight from Chicago to London, and it said it is leaving at 4:15. Buuuut, my itinerary said my flight was at 6:30 (with all my friends I was meeting in Chicago). I got off my flight and ran to a customer service desk to figure things out because my 4:15 flight was leaving very soon. The woman said that I had been double booked for some reason, and she had to hurry and make a quick call to get my baggage off of the 4:15 plane and onto the 6:30 plane. Well, I met up with all of my friends and we boarded the 6:30 flight to London. After we were all on the plane, the power and air suddenly turned off. A woman got on the loud speaker and said, "in the 10 years she's been on this plane, this has never happened." Wow. Reassuring. So, we had to wait for the mechanics to come and attempt to fix the problem. Well, our 777 plane has 4 engines. Three of the engines run the motor and one engine the air and electricity. This engine has suddenly decided to turn off, with no reason. So, we waited on the hot, dark plane for two hours for them to fix it. They finally told us that we had to get on another plane, that hasn't come yet. We unboarded the plane, and waited for a bit, then got on the other plane. Finally, we were ready to leave. When we got in the air, they gave us these 'sorry for the inconvenience' vouchers that we will send in to get a gift. I say it's probably a 'United' pencil or something. The meal in the air was nice, and they had movies for us. However, it was very uncomfortable sleeping in a chair. Finally, when we were ready to land after 7 hours of flying, we couldn't land because another aircraft had to make an emergency landing. After 15 minutes of circling in the air, getting very dizzy, we landed in London. Now, getting our luggage to the hostel is a different story. Let's just say two 50 pound bags, one 30 pound carry on, and a purse with my laptop in it is very hard to carry up stairs. But, we are at our hostel. We did the touristy stuff today, as shown by the pictures above. Right now, we are taking a break from walking and might chill out in the TV room of our hostel. Other than that, London reminds me a lot of New York City. It's very clean, and the people are friendly, just different accents. I miss home, but am excited for more adventures! Talk to you soon!

I'm here, I'm here!

I will update this soon, with more details of the flight to London....boy, it's a story! For now, here a picture of me in the hostel. Talk to you soon! Now....I'm going to get fish n' chips, yum!

The Last Good-Byes.

Sonja in Iowa City. She took me out to dinner and out on the town. I then told her (at one in the morning) that I would buy her a giant Roman trophy. I have no idea what that means.

This is a very cute picture of my handsome boyfriend, Ross. I'll miss you! See you in November!

Oh my. Oh my. There is still a lot of packing to do. I just spent the last week in Ames, seeing friends and hanging out with Ross, who I am going to miss so much! I also had to get art supplies, and other things. I am leaving on Tuesday, and the whole trip is getting a lot more real. A friend of mine sent me an Italy handbook that has been passed around to two previous people before me, who have travelled to Italy. They have written little notes and put stars by things that are important. It will be very helpful. I visited one of my best friends, Sonja, in Iowa City this last week. Her room mate, Simone, just spent last semester in Rome, so she had some great advice. So, these next few days will be filled with buying things and packing. Other then that, I don't know much until I get to London. See you soon!

Camera, hair, glasses.

The picture above is of the Blue Bunny girls (Jess, Ang, and me). Click on to view larger.

I guess the title says it all. Many things have changed in the past couple of weeks. The first thing was that I have a brand new do'. I don't know if it was because I was inspired by the movie 'Hairspray', or what? Side note: 'Hairspray' is an amazing movie, the dancing is fantastic, and the music is very catchy....it's been in my head for days. But, I do love my showtunes. Anywho, my hair is about chin-length, and has a tinge of red in it. My mother can comment on the red hair. She loves it.....kidding. The next change could be expressed in the form of "Hey, four eyes!" You guessed it. Glasses. Hey, many people that are attractive wear glasses like....um....Woody Allen. Well, maybe not. I think they are cute, and I don't have to wear them all the time. They are for seeing distance, night driving and such. The third major thing I have received in my life is small, pricey, and definitely makes me look at things differently. Did Meghan have a child? NO! I'm only 21, people! I got a new camera. The Nikon D40X. I took the picture above of the flower with this new camera. It's really light, and will definitely capture my semester abroad. As for now, the next few weeks will be filled with visiting Ames to see friends and my boyfriend, packing, and buying the necessary items to take with me. Also, exciting news! Ross will be visiting Rome in November for 1 week! It will be sad saying goodbye in a few days, but I already can't wait to see him in Rome. Our housing is located right in the center of Rome. I joke how on a map, when you see the word 'Rome' my window is in the 'e'. If you would like to send anything to me I can give you my address. Well, wish me luck on my adventure. I sure will miss Iowa, but I think Italy might be a little more exciting. The Corn Palace vs. the Pantheon, you decide.

It's almost here!

I will be leaving for Rome now in a little over a month. We got our supply list and our apartment assignments, along with the bill.....that got a great reaction out of my parents! It's really great because I am living with some amazing girls who I know I will have a BLAST with. Right now I am reviewing cameras because that will be my next buy before I head off to Roma. I want a really good camera, not just a simple point and shoot digital camera, but I nice semi-professional one. This will be useful with my digital photography class I will be taking over there. I know I will get some great photos (which I will be posting at a later time). My good friend Jess, at Blue Bunny, does a lot of excellent photography and she will be helping me pick out a good one. I have learned a lot of new things at Blue Bunny, mostly all from Angela and Jess because they know how to keep me busy and are always helpful and ready to answer any questions I have. I'm really glad they took me under their wing. It will be sad leaving them and I hope to keep in touch. As for now, I got new luggage and will begin making a list of what I need to buy before I go. As my family knows, I am very bad at packing because I pack EVERYTHING. I will try and take just the necessities, but, hey, a girl needs her shoes and lots of em'! Right now the exchange rate is 70 cents US to every euro. Not so good. So I will by most things here, and not wait till over there. I just talked with my grandma and grandpa Moore about London, as we will be staying there for 5 days before we go to Rome. They had some great advice and places we just 'have to see' because they traveled over there a few years ago with my uncle Jim, aunt Terry, and cousin Seth.
REFLECTION on the SUMMER:
I was a little weary about coming home again this summer and working because it's hard coming home after you have been on your own for a school year. But, I really loved it. I loved spending time with my family and going camping. It's things like that so many people take for granted, but I really have a great family, and I want to recognize that, and tell them. This will probably be my last time living at home, and I really took it all in. The other night I went on a run with my mom, and she beat me home. She is in such great shape, and I am really proud of her. After, I jumped in my pool and just floated, relaxing, thinking how I am 21-years-old, heading to Rome soon, starting my last year in college. I have my whole life ahead of me. But, right at that moment sitting in the water, I was completely at peace. No stress of projects, no deadlines approaching, and no pressure of finding a job after college. It was just me, my family, and my puppy, and I am so thankful. Life is surely sweet.

The Beginning.

On about May 14, I started a new endeavor where I get dressed up and shimmy my way over to Le Mars, Iowa. I am working in the Design Services department of Wells Blue Bunny. I'm slowly getting used to the 8 to 5 job, which is way different than lifeguarding or waitressing. The perk is I get all the free ice cream I want! Also, everyone is really nice and helpful. I will be running a 5K and a 10K within the next two weeks, so I have been exercising every day to prepare for those. The 5K is the 'Pump n' Run' in Sioux City, Iowa and the 10K is the 'Firecracker Run' in Minnetonka, Minnesota. They should be fun. I tried to con my boyfriend, Ross, into doing the 10K, but no success. He will be there cheering. However, the run is at 8:30am on the 4th of July....so we'll see if he's out of bed. The reason why I created this blog is for my trip to Rome, Italy on August 28th, 2007. We will be staying in London for 5 days, then fly to Rome to begin school. This blog is a way I can post new things on my adventure, and many people can par-take in my experience with me. So, enjoy, and I will be commenting on highlights during my summer and the preparation for my study abroad adventure! See you soon, Roma!