LONDON!

Saturday-
Our morning began at 7AM as our train was leaving at 8:15am, so it was an earllyyyyy start to our day! The weather looked as though it was going to be a beautiful day (at least sunny out, but still chilly)! Considering it had snowed 2 days ago, we were going to take whatever we could get :). The train ride was nice and relaxing and the scenery was beautiful as we made our way to London. We arrived around 10AM and proceeded to head into the depths of busy streets...
We made our way to meet up with a friend of John's from high school who was out in London for a week on vacation. She and her friend are both teachers in the Bellevue school district believe it or not so they were on mid-winter break haha. John hadn't seen Jenny since graduation day, but they had kept in touch via Facebook. So we met up with Jenny and her two friends Chase and Anne, so we could all walk around together and take in the sights and good times!
As we started our journey, I felt like I couldn't put my camera away, I wanted to take a picuture of everything! The details of the old and new buildings were amazing and the overall vibe from the people there was just welcoming and positive. It wasn't long before we ran into a pub and decided to head in for a drink.

The pub called the anchor...
We hung out for a little while, just sharing stories and getting to know eachother. We then continued on through the streets running into markets, street performers, and monuments along the way...

The monument from the "safe" ground :)

This was at the top of "the monument". It is the tallest standing stone building in the world. 211 steps to the top! Beautiful views.

At Borough Market

Big BEN!

One of the many street performers.

London Towers Bridge

Eventually we split from the group as they were headed to a museum tour and we had to go meet up with one of John's British friends he had made over the past year. So we jumped on the "tube" or subway and made our way back to the other side of town. One thing I noticed is that it seemed as if the city was ALWAYS moving! people coming and going non-stop, crazy! I guess it's probably the biggest city I've ever been too, considering I've never made it out to New York.
We made our way to a pub called Shakespears Head and met John's friend Tom for some dinner. It was a nice joint and the food was affordable (as most parts of London can be pretty expensive). The time was nice and Tom was a cool dude and let us know that if we ever wanted to come out again and stay somewhere we could do so with him.
It was now time for us to head back to the train station as our train was taking off at 8:24pm. By this time my camera had already died of battery as did I haha. I was absolutely drained and in a food coma lol! We made the train back home and arrived about 10pm, headed home and crashed out! It was an awesome day and I can't wait to get out again and spend more time on the town.

Sunday -
We had missed church the past weekend because of our game in London so it was nice to know that we were going to be in attendance this weekend! Of course it started off with a warm cup of tea before we started to worship in music :)
During worship one of the members from the church we've begun to get to know, John (older fellow), came over to me and said "geez ur such a big guy.. I bet you always have to look down a lot, at people and just in general" and I said "yah I do haha" then he continued to tell me that "God was telling him to tell me to look up more often". Maybe not just when I pray (as people often have a tendency to bow their heads), but also in life in general.
After the service I approached him to thank him for what he told me. We spoke more about what it meant in depth and that if I lift my head more often just in general I for example "won't see a woman's legs OR won't see a woman's cleavage"... It was interesting to me the way he put it into perspective as a way for me to be accountable for myself. Now by looking up he didn't mean literally, like not making eye contact with someone as that is respectful and important. BUT he meant it figuratively so as to not being tempted/distracted by looking down at a women's attributes. SOOO not only did it mean that I can keep my head lifted towards God more often but also be a reminder to myself to keep my focus "up" and not "down"...
It was an uplifting Sunday for me at Mosaic to say the least.
John and I had been invited for lunch at the Wood's house after church. Rose and Brian are a couple that usually give us a ride to our home games and they also help with the Crusaders organization and have for years. They have a daughter Nikola, who is married to Stan and attends every home game and son Matthew, who lives in London and plays for a University out there.
We spent the rest of the afternoon at their house eating and visiting! It was great and the food was awesome, they are very nice people and are part of the reason that it's been so easy to make Coventry like home.
It had been a longggg weekend, but it was great and I wouldn't of wanted it any other way!

Until tomorrow...
"make it happen"