The Scoop On London

I made it to London. I flew out of LAX to Chicago. I had a real hard time saying good-bye to my mom first. I wasn't in Chicago for long. Well, I wasn't in the airport for long. We boarded the plane on time, but then we sat, not moving for about 2 and 1/2 hours. I did get to watch the movies 'Hanna' and 'Something Borrowed'. I liked them both. So, finally we leave the airport and begin our 7 hour flight to Heathrow. I was worried because I didn't know the woman who was picking me up. I kept freaking out because I had no way to contact her and tell her my plane was late. After we landed I breezed through customs and went to find this woman that I had never met. It actually didn't take very long to find her though. She was real sweet. Gave me a hug when we found each other. She didn't know my flight was late until I got there and she stayed and waited for me.

She drove me to school and pointed out some of London along the way. After I got there and checked in and put my stuff in my room, they took us on a walk down the hill to go shopping. Here is what I saw:

This is one of the views from the top of the hill. That is the River Thames (pronounced Tems)

London is very green with lots of trees and old buildings

The River Thames a little closer

This is near the river, the building is a very nice restaurant with a big green field that is part of a park


We walked past this building. I was told that Mick Jagger's ex-wife lives here

This is where we went shopping. It's a street of shops


A closer look

There were nice helpful returning students that carried my bags to my room. When we got to it, they both said that my room is one of the nicer ones.

Window and empty shelves


The side view of my closet where I hang my towel to dry


My dresser and sink

My desk, next to my dresser



The front of my closet


Door on the left: Bathroom Door on the Right: My room

Man, they saw me coming


That's my door




The hallway outside my door



The smallest bed ever!


Can you make out that square on the wall above my bed? It's a cork board. I need pictures. Here is your challenge, should you except it. I would like pictures of all kinds mailed to me so I can hang them on this board. It doesn't have to be of me or you. It can be things that I like. Such at:

Taylor Swift

Derek Jeter

The Simpsons

Cake

Twilight

Books

Team Edward

etc.

Need my address? Email me and I will send it to you. I gave most of you a forwarding address before I left. Let me know if I didn't.

Susan "I emerged in London rain" B.

Thank you for being a friend

Before I left, I got together with a lot of really good friends! Plus, my family gave me a "last supper" that I didn't get pictures of, but believe me, fun was had by all.

Diana and Devon are two of my oldest and dearest friends. Our last dinner together was at BJ's

Devon bought this cute head warmer for me.

Kaylene and I in matching hats

I got 2 hats from the Foust/Kirkpatrick clan


Bunch of Mad Hatters

Too cute!

We are part of a Red Hat Club. Very exclusive.

Tammy and I have been friends since kindergarten

Keven, me, Tammy

Me with Tammy's kids, Destiny and Cain

So, my next post will be about London. Until then, Cheerio!

Susan "Holy Sh*t! I live in another country!" B.

T-Swizzle and S-Bizzle

I have become the biggest Taylor Swift Dork ever! I absolutely Love, Love, Love Taylor Swift. Last year, I took my niece's, Maddi and Lily to see her in concert at the Staple Center. That was when she was on the Fearless Tour. We had a great time! So of course, this year she is on the Speak Now Tour and I took the girls again. It was SO fun. I spent a lot of money on the tickets, we sat in traffic and we got lost, we parked too far and had a hard time finding our seats. But the minute Taylor Swift came out onto the stage and Maddi and Lily starting singing EVERY word with me to all her songs...Totally worth it. This year, I bought each of us Taylor Swift shirts to wear! (Dork, seriously). Here are a few of the highlights from the night:

Lily=Team Swift (front) Fearless and the number 13 (back

Maddi=Picture of Taylor

Me=I Knit Sweaters Yo T-Swizzle

Taylor singing over the crowd

The tree lit up and rotated while she sang

In our seats waiting for Taylor to come on stage

One of my favorite Taylor Swift songs is 'Thug Story'. It's a rap she did with T-Pain for the 2009 CMT Awards. That is what my shirt is about.

Susan "You don't wanna fight me, in my extra small white tee" B.

Remember me?

So I didn't mean to go this long without posting! By the way, I was told that I am not an "official blogger" until I have posted 3 times. Well, this is number 4! I am beyond official.

I have been busy getting ready for my move across the pond. Everything has come together so easily. I am super excited and very scared, a little sick to my stomach, nervous. I am a whole cocktail of emotions!

I had my last day at work. Very bitter sweet. I had seperation anxiety all week! But they threw me a great going away lunch complete with gifts, hugs and tears. Since I am moving to London and will be rubbing elbows with royalty, I was given a tiara and a bling ring to wear.

My Princess Wear

Grace and Melanie

Matt

Thank you Vanna!

The Tax Team

The Boss Man

Everybody at my lunch

I also had a going away dinner with 'The Sister's Knecht'.We went out to Miguel's Senior.

I still have a couple more 'going away' dinners to post. More on those later.

Susan "it's official" B.

Heads Up!

I have a new header. Look, I'm still new to this whole blog thing. I realize that my header is not perfect. But I really like the pictures and I made it look as good as I can. So, the photo was taken by my incredibly talented best friend, Kaylene. We did a whole photo shoot and I loved it!

Kaylene and I

The drawing of me riding a book cart was sketched by my artistically gifted brother. I texted him and told him what I wanted the picture to look like. He did it better than what I told him. Please notice the book that fell off the book cart. It is titled 'Frisbee' by Eric Bergreen. This is an actual story that anyone can read. Go to smashwords.com or Barnes and Noble ebooks to find it. You can purchase it for the low, low price of $2.99. It's a great murder mystery based loosely on the neighborhood my brothers and I grew up in. It includes all the kids we hung out with. I make an appearance in the story. You will recognize me as 'the thumb sucker'. My oldest brother Jason, he's a writer too. He's been working as a journalist for years. Just recently (like last week) he made a career change. Google his name and you will find all kinds of great articles he's written.

Eric, Me, Jason

I love these guys

I have been watching the riots going on in London. I think they have things pretty much under control now. My brother, Eric said they were rioting because they found out I was coming. Jason told me that the riots are a 'celebration' just for me. Not much longer now. 16 more days.

Susan 'the thumb sucker' B.

Long Live the Queen

Ever since I moved home back in 2006, I've been trying to get back out on my own again. Nothing seemed to work out for me though. Every plan I made kept falling through. I decided I don't like being a working girl anymore. I want to go back to school. I want to study something that I love and not something that I'm just good at. One day, at work, I googled "study in Britain". I clicked on the first link, and navigated my way through. The first school that was listed was Richmond University. It is located in London, England. I looked around on the web site and thought it looked pretty cool. I liked that there is a gym on campus and the building looks like a castles. Last December, I applied. My application was complete at the end of February and on March 8th I received a phone call saying I had been accepted!

When I first told my parents about applying, they gave me this wary look and just raised their eyebrows at me. When I told my mom I was accepted, she got a little excited. My dad wasn't so quick to join the party though. But I pushed on and jumped through all the hoops the school kept throwing at me. Before too long, both of my parents were offering to pack my bags and pay for my plane ticket! Bless their hearts.

I was relentless for 4 months, trying to keep my "big news" off of facebook. I didn't want to tell my work prematurely. For all four months, I dreaded telling my boss. I was so scared he was going to be mad at me! I set my tell-all date for August 1st and last Monday, I got to work early and with bile and breakfast slowly rising from my stomach and settling in my throat, I went into my boss' office and told him. He was thrilled! I couldn't believe how supportive he was.

This morning, I got an email confirming my Visa to enter the U.K. I am at the point of no return. My flight leaves out of LAX Monday, August 29th. This is it.

That's part of the reason I started this blog. I don't want to forget a thing while I'm over there. I want to be able to go back and remember every detail of this adventure. I am SUPER stoked. I would never have imagined I would live in London.

I need to add some photos. One of the women that I work(ed) with retired last week. They threw her a Twilight themed lunch party. She's a big fan. Robert Pattinson showed up dressed as Edward Cullen and he wouldn't stop bugging me to take a picture with him! So, I obliged.

Susan "you can't spell my name without USA" B.