The face of finals week

hair on top of the head (unwashed, mind you). still in the pj's. no makeup. on the couch.
loverly.

this is a request for all those I encounter in the next week: please don't judge me. or the way my apartment looks. please and thanks.

"I must be the one to kill 'Arry Potta!"

Last year in London, I discovered that I have the talent of making a voice that's a mixture of the devil and the Christian Bale Batman and a dinosaur.  And I try to use it whenever I can.  So just picture that voice in your head when you read these lines:
-"I must be the one to kill 'Arry Potta!" (Voldemort)
-"I want to eat your babies" (me?)
-"At least I'm not the one wearing the hockey pads" (Batman)
Anyways, it made me think of that when I typed in the title. And I typed in the title because I just bought Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 on DVD. It came out today. I jumped on that.

{love and magic}

I also wanted to blog about this because it's further excuse/reason not to study for my exam tomorrow morning. Tomorrow's the official start of finals week, which means the past couple of days have been reading days which means I haven't done any studying.  Except I took my last Spanish exam today for the rest of my life. I really enjoyed the class but it terrifies me to speak Spanish in front of people who are native speakers and so I'm glad to be done with that business.

Another thing that I did that I felt was more important than studying was trying out a new yogurt place with Annie on our errands run this afternoon. It's called Yogurtland and it's totes my new fav hun cal froyo place (sorry, YoZone. it's been real).  

So, recap of my weekend:

1. Get a promotion at work. Check.

2. Play tennis for 2 hours so that I don't have to study. Check.

3. Buy Harry Potter. Check.

4. Buy a new book for summer reading to begin. Check (The Help)

5. Try new frozen yogurt place so that I don't have to study. Check.

6. Procrastinate studying. Check.

7. Bachelorette party for Annie. Check. (wink wink)

8. Freak out about finals. (not check)

9. Become a witch and attend Hogwarts so I can study wizardry instead. Working on that.

press forward

friends of byu.
the end is in sight.
I had values training at work today (which means I tke a break from my normal tasks, do fun little activities that emphasize good values and then get cookies).  They showed us this video and it's makes my day every time.  Just do this in the mirror before you go out and take a final and life will turn out just fine.

Finals, fAsh, and Final Week Fun

LAST SUNDAY!! (wellll we thought it was…)

It was also Stake Conference today and the speakers were good. A few were from my old ward and so that was fun to hear from there.
That night we had a great fireside testimony meeting. It was great to hear from everyone that spoke.
It was the night before the start of a crazy finals week and so we ate cake and talked for as long as we could, putting off the inevitable. It was a good night.

MONDAY-THURSDAY

All finals and no fun.  Plenty of Food and Wine runs for candy and Dr. Pepper.

THURSDAY

Finals
Annie and I took a break from finals and studying for a trip to Borough Market.
Between my last two finals, Annie and I took a break to eat at Borough Market, a favorite haunt of ours. We walked from St. Paul’s Cathedral, across the Millennium Bridge (they rebuilt it since the Death Eaters destroyed it in 6th HP movie), along the Thames River and ended in the Market. We continued walking along the Thames after lunch to Tower Bridge and found a memorial for the mariners lost at sea during the world wars. It was really beautiful memorial.

{Tower Bridge}

After the last final, we were treated to a song long anticipated by the famous Professor Macfarlane! He changed the words to “The Wizard and I” from Wicked to be about Professor Howe and how she joined our program. So funny.

A nice little treat that the directors did for us was order pizza and then surprise us with Ben’s Cookies. What a great ending to finals!

FRIDAY

Rumor had been travelling around the centre about a certain volcano Eyjafjallajokull erupting in Iceland. Ok, kinda weird, but whatever. Then the rumors escalated to truths as the airports started to close. Ok, it’s going to be only for a day, whatever. No, I end up being stranded on an island, aka Great Britain for 5 days after I’m supposed to leave.

Here’s a poem about this occasion:
Imma not going on a plane today
Because easyjet sent my way
An email that to me said:
“If you get on a plane you’s dead”
I prayed for another week in London
Surprise! Here it is, hon.
But why did I end up stuck?
Volcano Eyjafjallajokull did erupt.
No ash in the sky or on the ground
No said explosion can be found.
In fact, the sky is sunny and clear
Which means London’s favorite time of year.
Sports in Hyde Park over there.
Tulip Festival in Trafalgar Square.
Sunburn on a pasty face.
Shorts and sandals all over the place.
One more market, one more show
Last minute places to go.
Cancelled flight? That’s too bad.
Good thing there’s more fun to be had.
“Homework is waiting at home”,
Ha ha funny, school’s done.
It’s a dream come true:
London when the skies are blue.
Heading to America hurts even more.
There’s still so much to explore.
Cheers, 27 Palace Court, cheers.
I’ll remember you throughout the years.
Day trips to other parts of England,
Paris, Wales, Ireland.
Borough, London Eye and Big Ben,
Don’t forget the British men!
“I love Nandos more than you love your mom”
Khan’s and their delicious non
Gelato Mio, Frog, Ben’s Cookies:
Counting calories is for rookies.
Pounds, accents, tube delay,
all part of the everyday.
Friendships that will last.
Time flew by way too fast!
Forever has my life been changed.
But one thing will remain the same,
One thing will always ring true:
London, I love you.

-written by Michelle Ericksen in a Rome hotel after getting off the flight from London
Anyways, a group of us went to Borough Market (again, one last hurrah). I thought it was our last day, but it wasn’t, so that was a weird feeling. I was bracing myself for the upcoming trip to Rome and having to say farewell to London. When that “bracing” wasn’t necessary, an off-centered, displaced feeling set in. Good thing that didn’t last and we took it as a chance to go play some more in London. Some of us girls went back to Westfield’s to see “Dear John”. Don’t see it. It was stewpud.

SATURDAY

If you hadn’t caught on yet, I didn’t end up going to Rome. It’s ok, I’ve only wanted to go there since forever. You can understand why my feelings were so mixed. I missed Rome, but got a really fun few extra days in London. What a toss-up.

On my second last Saturday in London, I went back to Camden Market where Tori and I got the cutest/coolest folding sunglasses. She also showed me where to get some yummy fish ‘n chips and OJ. We then went over to Trafalgar Square, where the Tulip Festival was happening in honor of Holland. To be honest, there was one stand of tulips. Basically, it was a party with a live band and drunk people and pole vaulters. Very energetic and fun.

{hallo}

{party at Trafalgar}

Annie wasn’t feeling well, so I went back home to check on her and then we walked back to Trafalgar so that she could enjoy the party, too. On the way home, we stopped by Primark and got some flip flops.
We still had no signs of getting home anytime soon. Or to Rome.