Many Apologies from England!

Hello All!
I am so incredibly sorry that it has taken this long for me to blog on England Term! As hard as it is to believe, I have already been in the UK for over a week now. We just finished up an amazing week in Edinburgh, Scotland. I toured the castle, experienced the Festival, and saw the Royal Military Tattoo. I fell in love with the Scottish people, their fierce pride, and their hatred of the English :) It was a sad day when we had to leave, even though we were there for almost a week.

We then visited the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, and enjoyed seeing the North Sea coastline. Our next stop was Durham, England, where we visited their magnificent cathedral. We are currently stationed in Keswick, England (Northern Lake District Area). It is gorgeous! Green (and sheep!) everywhere! So picturesque and quaint- everything I had hoped for :)

One prayer concern is for communication (or lack thereof). While I am having an excellent time, I feel like I am being very lax in keeping in touch with loved ones back home, which is taking a serious toll on some of my most important relationships. I don't know an immediate solution. I want to enjoy this experience to the fullest, but also realize I can't neglect those still at home.

But, other than that, I am having the time of my life. "Learning on Location" is better than I had ever imagined! I am forming some amazing friendships, seeing some amazing sights, and learning a ton about all of my favorite subjects. You just might lose me to the UK! :)

Cheers and Love to You All!
(And phone calls and postcards to follow!)
Allison

The Eleventh Hour (or Day)

Hello Once Again!

This will be my final pre-departure blog :/ There are now only 11 days until we take off, so I really do not have enough time to write an installment after this...

First of all, I am SO inexpressibly excited! Even though it still has not hit me that I will be overseas in less than two weeks (and probably won't hit me until I get to the airport), it is definitely a reality! I now have only one day left of each job (Oh Happy Day!)-- After Saturday, it's game time! Mom (who I am so grateful to have helping me!) has helped me make lists, and we're officially starting to pack on Monday... OK, confession time. I have not had time to do ANY of my class reading yet! That is Goal #2 for next week (behind packing). Other than that, I plan on spending as much time with my family and Matt as possible. I know they're excited for me, but are also going to miss me terribly (the feeling is mutual, believe me!)

That leads me to my main motivation for this posting: Prayer Requests! I'll try to keep this short and sweet--

1. Please pray for peace of mind for my family (especially my parents and my sisters), friends (mostly roommates!), and boyfriend that I'm leaving behind! I'm so thankful that they're behind me (especially Matt- Although he's a little worried about me running away with an Irish boy :), he's thrilled that I have this opportunity, and loves me enough to let me go), and hope they continue to have my back as time goes on...
2. Please pray for my professors and travel buddies! This trip will be "made" by the people going on it. Pray that we all get along swimmingly and are able to support each other no matter what the UK might throw at us...
3. Finally, please pray for me! This is my first time leaving the country, and I pray I have a smooth adjustment. I also pray that I learn everything I possibly can from this experience, and have a wonderful time while doing so...

Thanks again for reading! The next time you hear from me, I'll be in the UK (more specifically, Scotland!) Until then, enjoy the rest of this fleeting summer!

Allison <3