Significantly Insignificant

The mission has caused many goodbyes in my life.

This includes material possessions that have no significance in the eternal scheme of things. 

But still.

And then there are the items that should have had their goodbyes long ago.

My Polka-dot Duffle.

This girly-girl has been in my life for well over five years. Every track meet, every drama performance, and every weekend trip have graciously and desperately included Miss Duffle. And it shows. Zippers popped off long ago, inside dividers have ripped, and there are some mysterious stains in the bottom.

You've been good to me.

And my habit of bringing far too much than is needed.

My Moccasins 

These shoes invite the inner Pocahontas of me for a little pow-wow. (Despite the long faded sparkles and modern day lining.) The sidewalks at BYU-Idaho have become well acquainted with Mr. Moccasin. Some other redeeming qualities: slip on, slip off, color goes with everything, comfort. 

My feet say "Gracias" since I don't know the Native American word for "thank you."

I was going to make an analogy of how I hope to be like these items when I return from my mission: well worn, incredibly useful, don't want to let go, etc. But I don't want to be thrown away after the mission.

You Are What You Read

Someone was giving a really nice thought at FHE stating that you are culmination of who you hang out with and what you listen to, watch, and read.

Oh good. That makes me British. 

Obviously since my mission wardrobe consists of some of my favorite literary/cinematic ladies.

And let's not forget my favorite detective.

SAN.DI.EG.O

San Diego has always been one of my favorites. On one such adventure down to America's Finest Cities, I developed many favorites that have not altered with age such as:

Favorite animal-Killer whales

Favorite scripture- 3 Nephi 12:16

Favorite temple- San Diego

One of my pre-mission goals is to go to the temple every week (and preferably a new one). My parents spoiled me by driving down to San Diego so that I could go through the temple there. If you look closely you can see me in my yellow cardigan in the picture above. 

Trust me on this one: try, try, try to get into the San Diego temple. It was absolutely gorgeous. They like to spoil the out-of-town visitors so I was able to see a sealing room and the Bride's room as well. If my parents were hoping to fulfill my desires, the visit only encouraged me to marry there. Don't worry, a temple worker offered her son at BYU. Maybe when I come back he will still be there?

Other than our wonderful time at the temple we were able to explore a few beaches, eat lots of Mexican food, and visit the Mormon Battalion historical site. 

And now I would like to mimic the sea lions (or seals?) above.

Care to join me? 

Matchy-Match

Guess who is matching Corgnelius the Corgi?

If you haven't checked out this celebrity corgi who made it into the The 40 Most Influential Corgis of 2012 list, you can follow Corgnelius' adventures here.

What is with my obsession to remake corgi photos?

Happiest of Birthdays

It is a very special birthday today.

It is that of Miss Jane Austen.

She is one of my absolute favorite authors.

Think of all the amazing characters and plots that were created on this little desk:

This is why I believe Jane and I would get along smashingly:

“The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.” 

“A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment.” 

“I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of any thing than of a book! -- When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.” 

“The more I know of the world, the more I am convinced that I shall never see a man whom I can really love. I require so much!” 

“but for my own part, if a book is well written, I always find it too short.” 

ESA- Phone Booths

I'm at a pay phone trying to call home so call me maybe?

ESA- Authors

WB Yeats: Poet: Ireland

"Cloths of Heaven" written outside the graveyard

Modern art portrayal of Yeats. I thought he might be offended by this, but as I learned more about him I realized, this actually suits him quite nicely

William Wordsworth: Poet: England

Beautiful house (and gardens which I showed in another post) and his grave below

What you don't hear about is his sister Dorothy and how he received much of his inspiration from her personal journal.

Bronte Parsonage: Charlotte, Emily, and Anne: England

I love their stories so it was fascinating to learn about their lives. I even saw the sofa where Emily died. 

Just had to throw in some Sherlock Holmes

Jane Austen: Author (and one of the best in my opinion): England

Once again, I loved learning about Jane and her family. The house was full of their clothes and trinkets.

This is Jane's writing desk. So many characters such as Mr. Darcy and Mr. Knightley came to life on that small desk. She would write every day after breakfast and whenever inspiration struck.

The graves of her mother and sister. She was incredibly close to her sister which is why you see so many sisterly bonds in her novels. 

My favorite part: her piano!

They only allowed us to play songs from that time period so I opened the book and there was the song I slaved over during my senior year of high school. My performance definitely wasn't the best, but since the piano was old, you couldn't tell as much. Also the piano had only one pedal. 

You can listen to a professional recording of the song I played here unless you're my family. Then you would have heard that song one too many times.

Stratford-upon-Avon: William Shakespeare's hometown: England

His "courting chair" at Anne Hathway's cottage

The Hash home where his daughter and her family lived

Actors outside the location of Shakespeare's birthplace.

They would do scenes from any requested Shakespeare plays. 

Cool fact: I have ancestors from this town. What if they were Shakespeare's friends?

Probably not. 

ESA- Harry Potter!!

Sometimes when I hear England, my mind tells me Harry Potter. 

England and Harry Potter just go together like Ron and Hermione or butterbeer and Quidditch matches.

In Edinburgh, Scotland I came across The Elephant House, the cafe where JK Rowling sat down and created Hogwarts. 

The Making of Harry Potter Studio in London!

But before I go to that, this is the bridge the Death Eaters twist around in the 6th movie:

Back to the studio, I took more pictures there than I did any other place.

I'll spare you all those glorious photos and just share a few.

They had a lot of sets, costumes, and props set out.

For example, the Gryffindor Common Room:

Dumbledore's entry above

and his office below

Pretending to be Salazaar Slytherin

This is a display of all the books, magazines, and little props they used in the movie. I was amazed at all the details that most people would not even notice. 

Overly priced butterbeer that was oh-so-delicious

That head in the driver's seat of the Ford Angelina, yeah that's mine.

Privet Drive and then

Diagon Alley

The most magical part (which is saying something) was the room where they displayed the Hogwarts model. They use this model for a lot of full shots of Hogwarts.

At the end they created wand boxes with the names of every single person who contributed to the making of the Harry Potter movies. Let's just say there were a lot of boxes.

More pictures of this adventure can be found on Facebook.

Please note my glasses in the following:

Trying to replicate the snake scene from the 1st Harry Potter at the London Zoo:

They used one of the Underground stations as inspiration for the Ministry of Magic.

I accidently came across it.

Oh, and Happy Halloween!