Insert witty lyrics here...

After a fun filled week at home I headed back over to England, with my mom!! She had an amazing time here, and I'll really glad I got to show her around. I already posted about Nottingham, so I'll spare those details again.

Her third day here we went over to campus. I wanted her to see where it is I am going to school...and where all that money is going. It's such a different campus from NC State, but I like it. She seemed to like it as well.

We headed down to London for her final few days. London has almost become like a second home to me, since I can now navigate the underground without really needing a map. Too many trips there I suppose. We did the usual stuff, Parliament, Westminster, St Paul's, Tower, boat cruise...but we also threw in a few curve balls.

See, we were in London over Easter. It's the first year that I can remember where I didn't go to church on Easter Sunday. Oops. But we did make it to the Good Friday Service at St. Paul's Cathedral. Wow! What a service! Now, I grew up baptist...and had been attending a church prior to moving here that's rather contemporary. So, hearing the psalms sung and the passion sung was truly amazing. It was a really great experience and very moving. Something I highly recommend if you ever have the chance.

Of course though, for anyone that knows me, you know I can't go somewhere with great theatres and not see a musical. This trip was no different. I took my mom to see Billy Elliot. If you like dancing at all...GO SEE THIS MUSICAL! The boys that play Billy and his friend Michael were wonderful. For 11-13 year olds, they had some amazing talents. The girls on stage were very talented too. It's funny, sad, upbeat, and constantly moving. Do yourself a favor and see this! Oh, and if you know the movie...this is soooooooooo much better!

In love at the rock show

~Blink 182

Being home at the end of March/beginning of April was amazing! I got the chance to see some of my favorite people in the world (my parents!!!). I had every intention of spending my time at home doing some research on my thesis project, but that didn't quite happen. I honestly just think I was a bit burnt out and needed a few days of a break. So, I spent some time with my parents, the kids, and my brother and his wife. It was great! Even the part where my dad and I spent the better part of one night just making fun of this season of American Idol. Anyone else think it's time for a break from that show??

But no worries, the week wasn't a complete waste. I spent a day in Raleigh catching up with the former place of employment (hey to those reading and sorry if I didn't make it by the say hi in person). But the real purpose for that visit was to get some things squared away on my thesis and I have to tell you, I feel a ton better about the idea...if I only had time to work on the thing now.

The overall purpose of the trip though was the celebrate the wedding of one of my former roommates. They have to be one of the more romantic couples I've ever had the pleasure to call friends. And I have to tell you, they couldn't have been any luckier on the weather that day. 70 degrees and sunny while getting married at the Court of the Carolinas. Congrats guys!

The sun was out, the air was warm

~Ted Leo & The Pharmacists

It's been quite the whirlwind of spring breaks for me. By far, the best spring break ever! And it's still not over! Bear with me while I take a few posts to catch up on all the happenings. It's well worth it, well the pictures are anyway.

I headed home for a week at the beginning of my break, making the usual pit stop in London along the way. This time in London was a bit different because I had enough time to walk around, but no real desire to see or do anything. Especially since I'd be spending the next 2 weeks there. So, I checked into my hostel and just headed out around Picadilly for a while.

As I came up upon St. James's Park, I noticed quite a few people heading in one direction. Naturally (or stupidly) I thought to myself, "I wonder what those people are going over there for" and followed. I soon found myself at the Household Calvary Museum so I walked through and learned a bit about the guys on horseback that help guard the monarch. It was pretty cool. After finishing in the museum I walked back outside to see a bunch of people taking pictures. Same natural thought followed, "I wonder what they are taking pictures of." So, I rounded the building and found this:
I was rather happy about my curiosity. The rest of the day was rather low key as I really just couldn't wait to get home and see Phantom, Lucy, and the family. Plus, I was heading home for a totally amazing wedding...and who wouldn't be excited about that. By the way, London in spring time is rather beautiful.

They're men, they're men in tights...

My mom is here visiting for a week! I'm really glad to get to show her around the area I live in and then spend some time in London. It should be really fun.

Yesterday we headed to Nottingham for the day. I finally made it up to the castle. I've gotta say, rather disappointing. I don't even know what I was expecting of it, but I was under impressed with what I did see. In fact, the only photos I took were of the flowers.

Today we're walking around campus and town. I'll be sure to take her to see the latrines out behind our classrooms, just for fun of course. Who doesn't want to travel to England and see latrines?!?!

The whole world is blazing, we need water

~The Who

Today is World Water Day. A day very near and dear to my heart. But that goes without saying. It kind of brings in the whole reason for why I'm here. While I could sit here and give you all the statistics...I'd rather just send you to find things out on your own. Because we all have a purpose, and all have something we're passionate about. And if your passion lies in water for developing countries, please check out these organizations or get in touch with me. If not, I hope you are putting your passion to good use. These are in no particular order...and not an exhaustive list. These are just the organizations that I regularly follow.


Nuru International

Wine to Water

Medecins Sans Frontieres

Engineers without Borders

Water for People

And this walk that we shared together

~Dashboard Confessional

Today is absolutely gorgeous here in England. In fact, it's been a few days of quite beautiful weather. It's great to walk around outside without freezing and to sit in my apartment with the windows open. Can't beat a few days like that.

This week has been an interesting one. Most of my coursemates are finished with lectures. There were 6 of us that chose to take Water Treatment, which is taught through the undergraduate department, so we still have 2 more lectures. Granted, we only have lectures 1 afternoon a week for that class, so it's not so bad. This week was the official start to our thesis projects though. Everyone seemed pretty rushed to turn in a proposal, or at least a title by Tuesday afternoon. Since then we've all been anxiously awaiting our project advisers and approval. In the meantime, it's been a week of little productivity and little motivation. Maybe it's just the anticipation of Easter break in 1 week. Maybe it's that we're all going home, or at least traveling in 1 week and just are burnt out on all the lectures. Or maybe it's that we're all freaking out about our projects. Whatever it is, I don't think anyone has been that productive. Well, I did manage to catch up on most of the reading I missed while I was back in the States. So, that counts for something right?

Yesterday the twins and I decided to get outside and enjoy the weather. We went over to the park in town, had some ice cream and coffee (well, the did anyway), and just walked around. It was a bit chilly but still beautiful. The trip actually inspired me to take my camera out today, which I did. After a short stroll through the park I went through the market that we have in town every Thursday and Saturday. I stopped by my normal vegetable stand to buy some oranges (he has the best oranges I've ever had) and decided to pick up some flowers because they were just to pretty to pass up. Maybe tomorrow if it's nice I'll head down to the river for some more pictures.

I think I have officially broken my camera though, which means I may be shelling out some money soon to buy a new one. I used to only get 1, maybe 2 error messages when I'd turn the camera on. Today I got 4. That's probably not good. But maybe it can wait until I've graduated and have a real job, with real money, and less debt. Maybe?

So many bright lights that cast a shadow

~My Chemical Romance

I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things around here. I refuse to believe I'm still jet lagged, but I'm not sleeping well. Last night was interesting though. I had the strangest dream. I dreamed that my mom and my grandma and I were out shopping and I found a business suit. Cause we all know how important that is when you're in grad school...maybe that's telling me to get one to start job hunting???!!

Anyway...because no clothes actually fit me without needing some tailoring, the dream went on to me trying on the suit at a tailors. At which point an argument ensued between my mom and me about how slow I was being and how I kept complaining about the suit. All I really remember is that my grandma was sitting in the corner just laughing at us. Which seemed to be just what would happen in real life. I really miss her.

In happier news, one of my photos was published in an online travel guide. You should check it out. The more interesting thing is that this guide is published locally to where I used to live prior to moving to the UK. But hey, someone chose a photo I took to share with the world. Awesome!

I only have 2 more lectures in my grad school career here in the UK. Easter break is only 1 more week away, then I have a 3 week group project, followed by my summer long thesis. I'm a bit nervous about the thesis. I'm already doubting my project choice but I'm sure once I actually get some work done on it I'll feel a bit better. At least I hope I will.