Snowshoes!

So I had a wonderful time yesterday doing something I'd never done before....snowshoeing! My roommate Lisa and I decided we'd get out and do something and her brother and sister-in-law own 2 pairs of snowshoes. Isn't it great trying something for the first time and not having to pay for rentals? So we picked up the snowshoes and headed up a small canyon in the Oquirrh mountains and started walking away. The trail we followed was pretty much already packed down by snowmobilers and 4-wheelers, but there were parts on the side of the trail where we got to blaze our own trail and really test out our snowshoeing capabilities. I really enjoyed it! And it was a gorgeous day! And we were glad that we were well above the smog! The only unfortunate thing? Neither of us brought our camera...but thank heavens for camera phones. Here're a few small pictures that I took on my phone...

A fun Saturday

So last Saturday was a busy, yet very enjoyable one for me. Joni and Brock were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple and it was such a privilege to be able to be there for that. They are good friends and it was a beautiful day! I was pleased the weather cooperated, even if it was still cold! They also had a dinner at the Lion House afterwards, which was so good I stuffed myself far too full (but the next day was fast Sunday, so can you blame me?).
After that scrumptious dinner, Heather, Lisa and I went and saw the Blue Man Group perform at the Enery Solutions Arena. Those 3 blue men sure put on a good show! Without saying a word themselves they manage to entertain. They had a band perform with them, I think it might be "their" band, which wasn't bad, but wasn't altogether electrifying. I should have liked to have seen more of the Blue Men doing stuff on their own.

Waiting for the show to start

The Blue Men

They wandered into the audience and this one put a blue hand print on the guy's head Their show was certainly psychedelic! I enjoyed their rhythmic drumming!

No, I'm not dead

...although some of you may think I am. Really, I've just been a bit busy, over the holidays, and ... a bit lazy... Sorry...

I do have some good news to share. I've been given a promotion at work! I am now an assistant project manager for cataloging services! I started yesterday and have been a bit busier than I was before. But I'm enjoying it so far, and it means not a bad raise in pay (I'm salaried now) and more vacation time per year! I help manage a couple of teams as well as assist the project manager with various things prior to delivering files to clients. I may get to help hire as well the next time we do so. AND I get an office!

Brief, I know, but I'll try to post some backlogged pictures soon!

A very happy Thanksgiving

So last week was a quite eventful one for me...as I suppose most of my weeks have been recently. A week ago Sunday Heather flew in to spend the week with me and, having changed her plans last minute, Christine flew in on Monday afternoon. What a fun week!

I took the express train to Heathrow Sunday morning and picked Heather up and brought her back to my hotel, where we both took naps until it was time to get ready for church. I'm lucky enough to be staying just on the opposite side of Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens from the Hyde Park Chapel, so Heather and I walked through it on our way to church. Here's us by the Italian garden in Kensington Gardens: Unfortunately, I still had to work while Heather and Christine were here, but I met up with them in the evenings. Monday night we went to 'Mary Poppins', very appropriate for being in London, and not to mention a fabulous show! Tuesday night we went on the London Eye. It was cooler than I expected, but being at night and constantly moving, however slowly, made it difficult for taking pictures from it. I did capture this one after we'd gotten off and were walking back along the Thames:

Wednesday night, Heather and I had tickets to a Barts Choir/Royal Philharmonic Orchestra performance at Royal Albert Hall. We were supposed to sit in the upper circle, but were upgraded down to a section just off to the side of the choir. I enjoyed the performance very much, and it kept us out of the pouring rain that night. Christine, meanwhile, met up with a friend for a very posh meal.

Upon returning back to my overheated hotel room, we all had to pack for our next adventure...PARIS! That's right, we were going to spend Thanksgiving in Paris. Here's a look at my little hotel room:

So Thursday, we boarded the 7:30 am chunnel train, the Eurostar, to Paris. The train only took 2 hrs. and 15 min., approx., to get there. Heather and I were so excited for our first time in Paris!



Unfortunately, we were sat at the opposite end of the train from Christine, so we met up again when we got off the train.

Christine was wonderful because she speaks French and was able to communicate much better than Heather and I could. Thanks Christine!

Thursday was an absolutely gorgeous day! After finding a hotel, we made our way to the Basilique du Sacre Coeur:

Where I saw for the first time in real life...a mime. Here he's smoking. Typical. Perhaps he was taking a break...

Back at our hotel, Hotel Cambrai. We had a balcony...

One cannot enjoy Thanksgiving without a bit of turkey...jerkey!

We went into the city centre and walked along the Seine from Notre Dame cathedral to the Eiffel Tower. It was a beautiful walk, full of various sights and adventures. We ran into Christine's friend Ben (she had been going around Europe with him the previous week) randomly along the Seine.
Enjoying some turkey jerkey with Ben at the Eiffel Tower (Heather and I made sure to name some things we were thankful for whilst walking there)!
After our photo shoot at the Eiffel Tower (there are SO many more pictures than these), we walked back to Notre Dame along the Seine. Paris has fantastic night views!

This is the Pont Neuf bridge

Notre Dame cathedral

Friday morning was a bit overcast...and rainy. That made for an interesting trip to the top of the Eiffel Tower:

We went from there to the Arc de Triomphe

Where Heather and I went to the top while Christine was off having some fun of her own

Afterwards, Heather and I made our way down the Champs Elysees...

...to the Louvre...

...where we saw this lady, and half a million other paintings and sculptures.

Do you know who she is? I think she's famous...

Then we walked along the Seine from the Louvre towards Notre Dame again, enjoying a nice sunset...

...and looking forward to our crepes. Yummy!

Friday night Heather and I left Christine in Paris and caught our train back to London. Then Saturday morning I saw Heather off on the express train to Heathrow. It was so nice having company all week!

After my farewell to Heather, I got ready and then decided to take advantage of the morning before going in to work. I went to St. Paul's Cathedral and climbed all 484 (or there abouts) stairs to the top of the dome to get a good view of London. It was a bit overcast, but I wasn't disappointed. Here I am...

I walked along 'The Strand' past the Royal Courts of Justice....
...stopping at Gregg's bakery on my way to the National Gallery. I spent an hour or so there. It was quite nice.

But then I had to do some time at work. Here's a look at a bit of UCL:

Now only just over a week left...time has certainly flown by!

What a jolly 'oliday!....

So here are some long awaited photos of the past almost month...has it really been that long?...of my time here in England, the first 2 weeks of which were spent driving nearly 2000 miles all over this island with Jana, my sis. (For more details of our adventures you'll have to check out her blog here) I will say this: I don't really have the time to go into a too detailed travel log, but roughly here's where we were:

Sat. 20th: Arrive, nap, Lyme Park (below)

Sun. 21st: Church and visits
Mon. 22nd: Peak District: Hathersage, Chatsworth House, Bakewell for their famous pudding (it's a pie/tart), Castleton and Mam Tor (one of the 3 peaks that give the Peak district its name)

Here's Chatsworth House:

View from the top of Mam Tor

Us at the peak

Tues. 23rd: Preston Temple and visit to Mary Boswell, a companion of mine, in Wirral (near Liverpool)

Wed. 24th: Drive from Mary's to Ashington via the Lake District

The Lakes, Beatrix Potter country

Thurs. 25th: Holy Island, Bamburgh Castle

Lindisfarne castle on Holy Island

Fri. 26th: Dunstanburgh Castle, Alnwick Castle (Harry Potter's castle), Cragside house

Dunstanburgh castle

Alnwick castle

Sat. 27th: Durham and its Cathedral, Quayside Newcastle

view of Durham Cathedral from the river

Sun. 28th: Church and visiting

Mon. 29th: Drive from Ashington to Montrose, Scotland, to visit another companion, Roseanne, and her husband

Tues. 30th: Edinburgh

Wed. 31st: Drive from Scotland back down to Sheffield via Hadrians wall

Sunrise

Hadrians Wall

Thurs. 1st: Drive from Sheffield to London to stay with another companion, Rosie, London Temple Fri. 2nd: central London (too many specifics to list) and 'Wicked'

The London Eye

Tower Bridge

Buckingham Palace

Sat. 3rd: Drive back to Sheffield

Sun. 4th: Jana to the airport, Church, train for me down to London

Here are some picts from my two extra sightseeing days before officially starting work.

Big Ben

Trafalgar Square

Westminster Abbey

The Queen and Prince Philip leaving the Houses of Parliament after giving her speech (notice the very posh, gold-inlayed carriage)

St. James Cathedral

Don't worry, there'll be more to come. Heather's flying in Sunday morning and will be here for a week! And to give thanks this year we'll be spending 2 days in Paris!