Stanley!

i got a new friend mailed to me the other day... flat stanley! he is excited to go adventuring around britain, & he had his first photo op last night! here are the pictures :)

Flat Stanley's first bus ride  - I was laughing because of all the people staring at us awkwardly...

Stanley living it up in the club!

he is going to london tonight, very excited! missing you all, & may not be able to post until i get back to the flat... we shall see! stanley will have a plethora of pictures by the time we get back!

The Launderette Disaster

So, we have started to fall into a routine here at good old UEA. We have Morrison Mondays where Sofia, Ashley, and I always do our weekly grocery shopping. And we have recently developed Launderette Tuesdays (a little less fun, no alliteration) where, you guessed it, we do our weekly laundry. We waited two weeks to do laundry last time, and we were down to no clothes, which is why we have finally decided on a routine. The last time we did laundry on a Tuesday, we had a blast. Here is a picture.

However, we had a Launderette Monday this week. Very bad luck. We were desperate. We were down to our last shirts. It is an experience that will not be repeated.

We arrived in the UEA launderette, pound coins at the ready, at about ten o clock to find... that it was completely full. We sat on the floor waiting for open washing machines for a good half an hour, and then I had to wash my clothes in two separate machines (told you we waited too long!). Finally, a good forty five minutes later, I went to go move my washing into a dryer. Only to find that my clothes were... pink? Yes. Pink. I had accidentally put a brand new, red scarf into the wash with ALL of my nice white clothes.

Tank top? 

Pink.

Socks? 

Pink.

Cute, brand new dress I bought last week? 

PINK.

Ughhh. I eventually got over it, laughed it off, and prayed it would fade in the dryer (let me give you a hint... it didn't). And when we got back to the flat, I was entertained to find that Sofia had also had a washing mishap (ha, Sofia! who has the last laugh now!) & had somehow gotten black ink all over her clothes as well. So now, I will be going to the club tomorrow night in a beautiful, pink ensemble. Yeah buddy.

Moral of the story? Stick to Launderette Tuesdays.

&, in other news, my Mom is the bomb diggity. I was COMPLETELY THRILLED to receive a wonderful package filled with fastbre*ak bars, fruit snacks (Disn*ey Princess!), hot cider, and hot chocolate yesterday :) thank you, Momma, you are the best!

 xoxox

Rubbish Sofia Says...

I am not sure if any of you are familiar with the twitter user "s*** my dad says" (I'll try and keep it PG for the munchkins), but it is basically the twitter page of this guy that uses his account to post funny quotes from his father. Most are inappropriate, and I am sure glad my Dad doesn't say anything like it, but it is pretty popular on twitter. The guy even published a book!

Any how, I have this pretty entertaining friend here at uni. Her name is Sofia. She is pretty great. And she says a lot of funny things. So we have contemplated making a... "Rubbish" Sofia Says twitter account. Not sure if will ever happen, but just in case, here are a couple quotes from my dear friend. Hopefully they will make you laugh as much as they made me!

"That's not a bun in the oven... that's a baker's dozen!"

or

"Sofia, you call it something different here, but in America it is definitely Bask*n Robbins. You stole our ice cream!"
"Well, you stole our language!"

Hahah, probably not as funny as I think they are, but oh well :) I'll have to fill you in on my laundry mishap next post, I'm a bit tired and am watching Meet the Robinsons (ahh, saddest movie ever!) before bed, so I'll leave it at "it was white, now it is pink" for the time being and elaborate tomorrow :)

Miss ya! xxx

London

Yesterday was my first trip to London since I have been to England, and I'd say it was a success. Woke up at the ungodly hour of seven (hahah, okay, a little dramatic, but still too early for me) and we departed from dear old UEA at about 7:30. After a lovely three hour coach trip, we finally arrived in London to a great deal of cold and rain... It was fortunate that I chose to wear my raincoat and bring my gloves and umbrella! I was also able to share with my flat mate so she wouldn't freeze. It was less fortunate that I chose to wear a dress and uggs - said uggs became soaked and my legs were a bit chilly.

We began the trip with a two hour tour which was lovely, but probably would have been lovelier had we not been freezing. We had a very nice tour guide and met some nice people and saw lots of interesting sites like the the London Eye, the Houses of Parliament, the clock tower (we were reminded that Big Ben is the bell not the clock tower itself), Westminster Abbey, and Buckingham Palace. My personal favourite, however, was St. James' Park. It was absolutely beautiful. And, to add to the entertainment value, there were very friendly squirrels present who let people pet them and one even jumped on a man's leg!

Following our tour, Ashley, a girl that we met from UEA (I can't remember her name for the life of me), and I went to a coffee shop to warm up and wait for Aunt Sarah and Uncle Martin to get to Trafalgar Square. They eventually made their way over, and we got some Italian food! It was absolutely delicious, and I was so excited because I got a dish that reminded me a little bit of rigatoni romano - oh, how I miss Fazoli's! We did a bit more walking around, found some places that I might need to know about for Scott's trip, and then hopped back on the bus to UEA. It was a lot of fun, but I hope the weather will be nicer next time!

Upon arrival back to the flat, Sofia taught me how to make some brilliant chicken soup - it was delicious and I will be making it far more often, for sure! We ate, watched trashy British TV, and played lots of cards. A successful Saturday in my opinion :) &, I was able to start working on babysitting plans for the summer! I am so thrilled, hopefully it will be as great a summer as last year was.

Off to write papers now, if I can motivate myself... Lots of love!

Home - Michael Buble

Awhhhhhh :)

Sometimes I think I miss this kids I babysit here more than anyone else! I am having an amazing time & love my flat mates, but miss all the cute things kids say. For example, my dear friend May sent me this quote from her two beloved children -

Shelby: My eyes are watering because I know Rachel doesn't live there.

Maya: She still lives there, she is just in college.

Shelby: IN ANOTHER COUNTRY!

Shelby, my eyes are watering too! I am so lucky to be blessed with such amazing people in my life, both young & old :) Love you all!

Valentine's Day in Block D :)

I was very sad to be away from my handsome Valentine come February 14th this year, but fortunately got to talk to him for a couple hours on skype/yahoo last night, & even got to see his cute little face when he got his cake! Teach him to ever be mean to me again :P I am so excited for his arrival, in case you all didn't notice the cute little countdown in the righthand corner, it is approximately three weeks & five days. Not like I am counting down or anything. Hahah. But yes. I love my Valentine & wish I could have seen him today. Miss you & love youu, darling boy. You are the best I could ask for in a million & one lifetimes ♥

Even so, I had a great Valentine's Day in Block D with my splendid flat mates today! We went shopping at Morrison's for cake ingredients around four o clock, & the cake wasn't done until about eleven thirty at night! I had no idea how much work was to be put in it, but knowing our lovely Sofia, I should have expected it. However, even after hours & hours of whisking egg whites (the majority of the cooking time...), the cake turned out absolutely delicious! Super duper chocolaty & caloric, but so good that I didn't even care. My goal while I am here is to become as good a chef as Sofia :) She did an amazing job with the cake & we all loved it! I also had a great time playing s***head (a cardgame, of course) & Rummikub (I know you will appreciate this Mom!) with Sofia, Sam, Helen, & Ashley. My flat is awesome. That is all. Now following my lovely Mother's advice & going to bed earlyyyy! Love you, Mommy :)

& of course, on a final note, thanks for every single one of you who took the time to tell me Happy Valentine's, it made my day :) May, Skila, Eryn, Jill, Jill, boyfriend, & family - you are the best. I couldn't ask for better people in my life!

Love, love, love, love, love to you all :)

Insomnia

As of late, I have been having a serious amount of difficulty going to sleep. Even on days that I get up at nine or ten in the morning, I still can't find myself settled down enough to fall asleep until at least one or two at night. Often much later. There is too much going on in my head. Too much I want to get done. Too many people that I want to talk to. Too many things that I need to check just one more time before I go to sleep. Too many facebook statuses & pictures to comment. At first I thought it was jet lag, but I don't think jet lag lasts a month & two days. Hopefully I will be able to sleep soon. But until then, I sit here & think some more.

:) To the wonderful Brown family

When the lovely Brown children & their lovely Brown parents were living in Mexico the summer of 2009 (I believe), I read their blog religiously. & one day during their travels, Skila posted a blog about how they were celebrating their anniversary & the kids wanted me to come babysit so they could go out to dinner - In Mexico. Needless to say, that didn't happen, but the adorable blog post (& the fact that I was famous enough to feature in their blog!) absolutely made my day. So hopefully, this post will make their day too :)

To my dear Gustavo, Isaac, & Elliott,

I love you three boys dearly & thank you so much for my comics! Scott will be so excited that he was important enough to be featured in them. You are wonderful artists, & the comics will be going up on my wall as soon as I get some sticky tack. I also appreciated the common theme of my arrest, I understand that being arrested is your way of showing your love to me, hahah :) I have never heard of the "fart police" before today, but it is good to know that Lexington is being protected. Miss you boys so much, & you should know your letters made my day today!

Love,
Rachel

My lovely comics, written by Elliott, Isaac, & Gustavo Brown 

The letter wall ♥

Spectacular Sundays :)

Hello, all! Life has not been exceptionally eventful recently, but it has been enjoyable, which is always lovely. I have been having the time of my life & can't believe the first month of my journey is already almost up. It truly has been absolutely wonderful so far, all of it!

The only problem I have been having is finding a church that I love here in Norwich. The first church I went to was nice, but unfortunately I did not really enjoy the service. It was contemporary & had upbeat music, which I was familiar with, but I almost felt that the church was more focused on Christians than non-Christians, if that makes any sense. They spoke of the trials Christians must suffer through & urged us to pray for one another, made references to all of the sinners who didn't believe in Christ & who would eventually burn in the fiery pits of Hades, but didn't actually show much compassion towards them. Very white man's burden like stuff, & as a person who sees the value & beauty of all individuals - even those who don't believe the same things I do - I like for my church to have a bit more open mindedness & compassion towards the "heathens".

The church service this morning actually had a wonderful message that I truly enjoyed listening to. The minister spoke about spreading the good word, but not in such a brimstone, hellfire kind of way. He seemed to be a really genuine man who really cared about the world around him, which I appreciated. He actually even touched upon the idea that many Christians do elevate themselves above the "sinners", & that maybe that isn't the best way to get the job done. It was a good service. Unfortunately, I also happened to be the only person in the entire congregation that was under the age of fifty. I'm pretty sure that isn't much of an exaggeration either. There may have been two or three thirty year olds, & some children who left in the middle for children's church. It was also very traditional, which was nice, but not what I am used to. I miss my church at home, & just want to find somewhere like it here - especially because the sermons aren't being updated on the website. I checked :(

On a happier note, I went shopping with two of my gorgeous flat mates, Sofia & Ashley, today! We had a lot of fun running around town & mostly just looking around. Not too much money was spent, I don't think! We had a little bit of lunch/coffee at Costa & looked around Waterstones (one of my very favourite combinations!). After that we mainly explored town - we went into a couple shops & looked at stationary for Ashley. We also got some cute posters, I got a Winnie the Pooh one to add to my Disney collection.

Next weekend I plan to get the "Keep Calm & Carry On" poster for my room. For two quid, I don't mind :) Some "food shopping" was done as well (Sofia finds it so odd that we call it grocery shopping), & then we headed back to campus where I cooked my own dinner. Yes, you heard it right, I made chicken. In a pan. Mostly on my own. I was so proud. & it even turned out pretty tasty! I'm pretty sure the flat mates though I was a little crazy though, I was a tad bit freaked out about the blood in the raw chicken :/

Miss you & love you all very much :)

Happy February!

Happy February 1st, everyone! Hope it is turning out to be a great day :) I can't believe it has already been almost a month since I arrived. I am definitely enjoying every moment! Yesterday I had a particularly good time enjoying the wonderful film Wallace & Gromit - Curse of the Were-Rabbit with a couple of my marvelous flat mates! It appears that movie night is going to become a weekly staple here in Norfolk Terrace Block D! Enjoy the trailer below :)



Today brings some excitement as well! This evening I am going to go to a dance practice offered at UEA with one of my flat mates. It is once a week (I think) & is hip hop & jazz so maybe it can help keep me in shape while I am here, as well as some running & trips around the lake :) I am very excited & a little nervous! I guess we'll just have to see how it goes.

That's all for right now, I hope all is going well at home, & thanks so much to everyone who is keeping in touch :) I love you guys & hearing from you makes my day!