Cambridge and Thanksgiving

On November 10th, I got on a train at 7:40 a.m. to Cambridge, to visit my good friend Rachel Reckin, who I hadn't seen in over two years. She showed me the colleges, and libraries, and chapels that may as well have been cathedrals, and it was just really good to get to spend a couple of days with her :) Then I went about life as usual, the weekend before last I built a blanket fort, which is pretty impressive, actually, and last Thursday, the 23rd of November, was Thanksgiving, and some of the people at the church remembered that, and I thought that was really nice. On Saturday, 7 of us in the U.K. YAGM group got together here in Manchester to celebrate Thaksgiving at Grace's house in Salford...it was the first time I had been to Salford since I've been here, and I was meeting our friend Sarah at the train station and then getting her and I from the train station to Grace's house in Salford....we only got lost for a little bit, but then we found the right bus, and it was fine :) It was a very nice Thanksgiving dinner, with turkey, chicken, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, macaroni and cheese, green beans, and stuffing, and lovely people to share it with. That's my life up to this point, more soon :)

 Rachel and I outside of King's College.

 Inside the King's  College Cathedral or Chapel, I don't remember. I thought this was just a plaque, but nope. It's a gravestone. There's actually someone buried under there.

 My blanket fort that I spent most of a weekend on.

 Thanksgiving!!!!

Recent Shenanigans

I have now been in Manchester for over two months. Last week, the 11 of us YAGM's reunited for the first time since we've been in the U.K. We went on a retreat to Cliff College, which is in Calver, Darbyshire. We were there Tuesday through Thursday, and on Tuesday afternoon we hiked up to the cliffs and took some wonderful group photos. On Wednesday afternoon, we went to Chatsworth House, which was used in the movie "Pride and Prejudice", or so I've been told. I haven't seen the movie. On Thursday we went home, or elsewhere, and in between all of that, we talked and talked and talked and talked, and slept a little bit. This past Tuesday, October 31st, I had the chance of a lifetime to see Celtic Woman in concert at Bridgewater Hall here in Manchester, and it was an AMAZING concert :) I also figured out how to get into the cellar, and it was not as exciting as I had hoped, it did not lead me to Narnia, or anywhere magical, actually, but I do know, now, where to go if I need to find a ladder. Also, on October 19th, I got to meet Michael Rosen, who is a children's book author, he is the author of "We're Going on a Bear Hunt", which I read when I was in elementary school many many years ago, or as my friend Allison would say, 900 years ago, and he's written a bunch of other books as well. That is all for now, but enjoy some pictures of my recent shenanigans.

 Michael Rosen and I

 Baby cows up on the cliffs.

 View from the cliffs.

 Danielle and Sarah B. and I like to live on the edge.

 We like group photos :) 

 I mean, we really like group photos :) 

 I found a smaller version of Pride Rock.

 Sarah B. and I found Mr. Tumnus :) 

 I found the Stairway to Heaven, I really need to tell Led Zeppelin :) 

 Turned out to just be an ordinary archway, but I just feel like there has to be way to Narnia somewhere over here....

 An album cover photo, obviously. This is the most serious that we have ever been, and we are missing some people from this photo.

 I didn't find Narnia, but I did find Aslan....

 And Aslan is apparently friends with Mufasa :) 

Annie and Matt and I put on a puppet show in the gift shop, Matt was the pig, Annie was the cow, and I was the chicken.

 It's important to take time to notice the sunset :)