#??? Um I have lost count of the days...I think thats a good thing :)

Hello hello...So it has officially been 4 weeks to the day since I left home! Wow!!

And what a beautiful morning it was because I recieved a delivery of the Most GORGEOUS flowers this morning from My SPECIAL MAN back home!!!! They just made my whole day!! :)

Not a whole lot has been happening here the past week. I had my first class the other day which went well, and have my second class tomorrow. I am taking Developmental and Social Psychology, and Criminology Crime and Society, both of which I think should be pretty interesting! The way they do classes is just so different I feel like I am completely unorganized and going to miss all these assignments but I am pretty sure there isn't any assignments, Ha so hopefully I can figure this whole system out :)
I also had basektball tryouts last night...they went well :) and am excited to be doing something over here because they don't have softball! The girls on the team are all really nice, and the coach is really fun so It should be a great way to stay in shape! I am also in the running club and they go on runs almost everyday so I am excited to have someone to run with.
So since I haven't gone anywhere in the last week I don't have much to blog about so I figured it was time for a little "virtual" tour around my "home" starting with where I am right now (Although not featured in this picture right now is me watching Caleb do my softball ab workout, or should I say attempting to do it hahaha) :)

This is my room...

Welcome to Swansea University

This is campus...



This is the opposite view of campus!



Right across the street from campus is the beach, looking down the coast you can see the city!



Moving into the City of Swansea, lots and lots of houses! Little different from the out skirts of Edmond!



Tesco.. aka...Wally world ..only not as good :)



Another place to get some stuff for only 99 pence each!



One of the main streets in the shopping center



This brings us back to the student village...here is my flatt,  I am on the 2nd floor!






So there is a quick little tour of the three places I spend most of my time here in Swansea :)

For some reason, my mind has just been a little blank which is one reason why I have not updated in a while, so sorry for that! I have been rather side tracted the last few days really trying to figure out career choices and stuff. Funny how I keep going back and forth, I thought I had my life pretty much figured out. I was going to get my Degree in Biology then go into Physical Therapy, and then I switched to nursing, which I still think is the direction I want to take, I just for some reason do not feel like totally at peace with that, and I don't know if that is just me or if that is God trying to direct me somewhere else, Personal Trainer, or Physical Therapy Assistant, Teacher/Coach! I just don't know! Being a mom is what I want to do more than anything... wish there was a degree in that! So if you think about it pray for me that I can hear where God is leading me :) Patience, Patience, Patience is what I keep having to remind myself.God works in his time, and his time only, so I know that he will eventually open the door for me, I just don't know when or how he will!! All I want is to just figure everything out and know exactly what it is that I have to do, instead of this just up in the air toss up on life! Blah!
Well here I was saying I didn't really have much on my mind, I guess I just stated what has been on my mind...haha

Until next time :)
-Lissa

Day #22... London, Bristol, Beach, HURRAH!!

So its seems like its been a while since I have posted on here! So I have a bunch to catch you up on! :)

Last post I had just moved into my new house in the Student Village where I will be staying for the rest of the term. I am getting accustomed to the room and have even found myself saying "I'm going to head home" when refering to heading back to the house...I don't think I could ever replace Oklahoma though :) I really have grown much more grateful for the things I take for granted at home, such as water fountains and free public bathrooms are not hard to find, where here they are rather rare.

I officially am enrolled now in my classes, although its not finalized until later this week. I will be taking a Developmental Psychology class and a Criminology, Crime and Society class and maybe Spanish, but I am hoping I won't have to take that one because I don't need it for nursing :)

So Saturday September 24th a group of friends went to LONDON!!!! We went to go see the show WICKED, and just saw the sights for the day. One of the LONGEST days I have had here...our train departed Swansea at 3:30am, during the journey we jolted to a stop and started moving backwards.. our train had maintenance issues so we had to switch. We took a 5 hour megabus back and arrived home at about midnight. So far traveling here has never failed to be a "HOLD YOUR BREATH AND HOPE EVERYTHING WORKS OUT" experience! :) But we made it to London and ate at this little spanish breakfast resteraunt where they had "spanish thick chocolate" as a drink choice...it was YUMMY!!! :)


 

The rest of the day we spent sightseeing around town and became proffessionals at figuring out the London Tube (underground train system) :)

Harry Potter Fans?? Platform 9 3/4

St. Paul's Cathedral



Outside the Globe!

London Bridge :)

Buckingham Palace

The HIGHLIGHT of the day! IT WAS AWESOME!! :)

Hopefully I will be able to take another trip to London to see more of the sights!

Monday September 26th, Cristen and Alex and I went to Bristol to see a "Wombats" concert. That town was one of my favorites that I have been to and hopefully will be able to go back :)

Trying to figure out a really confusing map :)

Tuesday I spent most of the day enrolling into my classes... they have a very different way of enrolling... I really really really appreciate having easy online enrollment back home :) 

The weather here has been so WONDERFUL the last several days... so of course we couldn't resist and had to have.....

                         BEACH DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) 

Caleb and Allison...We have become really great friends :)

This is dedicated to my FAMILY and all my FRIENDS and my BF back home! All who I miss so much :)

  Praise Report!!!!!!

 I cannot possibly end this post without mentioning some of the BEST news!! My parents were able to go to Georgia and visit my brother Jarrod who is doing REALLY GOOD in his recovery program! All of the credit goes to our Mighty Savior for he is the only one who could help my brother through all of this and has really answered our prayers :) :) 

             "GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD, FOR HE IS GOOD; HIS LOVE ENDURES FOREVER."

                                                                                               -Psalms 118:1

"At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward Heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation."          -Daniel 4:34

 -Lissa

Day #17...Lets take a BATH!!

Here it is day number seventeen... Oh my goodness I can't believe it has only been TWO weeks!!!!!!!!... it feels as if it has been a month already! Everyone says the first two weeks are the hardest, so I sure am glad I have made it through that! I had my last day of class today until October 3rd, when term time starts and my actual classes will begin. I have enrollment on Monday for those! I still have to write this paper for my presessional class. Although writing has never been much fun for me I finally decided on a topic and am actually thinking it won't be as bad as I originally thought :) We moved into our permanent housing Wednesday after our field trip and so it really feels good to be "unpacked" and settled in! I didn't do much, just went to class all day and then to tesco for groceries. I got to make dinner though for my roomies tonight :) I was so happy I got to cook... Look at what I made....

It was DELICIOUS!!

Some of the most WONDERFUL and EXCITING news....MY MOM AND  ELIJAH ARE COMING TO SEE ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) Yep, its official.. at first I was trying to not get my hopes up just in case something happened to where it didn't work out, but they booked their flight today and will be coming November 8th! I CANT WAIT!!! :) :)  I sure have missed them, and so many other people from home!

...Speaking of missing them, I didn't really know it was possible to miss people this much, or even to miss Oklahoma this much! I am quite fond of that state :) Even though I have stated this before I am going to say it again... this has been one of the scariest and hardest things I have ever done. My heart has been aching for home! Its difficult for me to describe how I feel, because I kind of feel like I am a mountain dew bottle that has been shaken up bursting to be opened...ha! I am so excited and thrilled to be over, yet at the same time I feel out of place and incomplete! I am SOOO BLESSED for the FRIENDS I have made! :) I think that I am going to have some really awesome friendships!! But day by day I have been making it, some days are definitely better than others, that is for sure, but continuously there has been one thing that has remained constant this entire trip...and that is that God has been with me, and shown me something EVERY SINGLE DAY! Some days He will really open my eyes to something huge and other days its just little things that I realize while looking back on the day... kind of like tonight.

I sat down to read for a little bit and the very first thing that I read was these words "When my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I." .... WOW! I went and looked up the rest of the words

                     "Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will
                       I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is
                       higher than I."       -Psalms 61:1-2

I stopped reading and just felt comforted!! :)

Before I go, I must share with you all the field trip I went on Wednesday with the group to the city of Bath... aka the TITLE of this blog :)
It was BEAUTIFUL! One of the prettiest cities I have been too yet. We took a self tour of the Roman Baths that the Roman built when they conquered the city way back in 60 AD, and then we browsed the town walking around the shops and got to the "circus" and the CRESENT PALACE!
We also got to have TEA TIME, like the English do, at a little famous tea room in town called Sally Lunn's, that is famous for the cream tea and BUNNS...so of course that is what I got! :)
PICTURE TIME!!!!


The Roman Baths



The "Circus"



The CRESENT PALACE behind us! :)  

This is where all the royals stay when they come to town!

Bath Abby

It was so goreous!

Inside and Out!



TEA TIME...Famous Cinnamon Bunn and Cream Tea



Pinky and all... :)

-Lissa

Day #11...Conquering the BEAST!!!

Today my explorer friends and I took on a battle for the ages! :)

Entering into the roaring forest of the Brecon Beacons National Park was the start of our adventure. Not knowing where we were going, or what to expect, all we knew was we could hear the roar of the beast from a mile away, but we were ready with out armor at hand! Over trees, through the mud holes, leaping from rock to rock, we hiked and hiked. The rain was pelting down on us, yet we still pushed forward, desperate to find and conquer the beast of the forest. We grew tired and hungry... some fell, others pushed ahead, but we were together until the end for NO MAN GETS LEFT BEHIND!! The closer we got, the louder the beast roared...ragging rapidly the beast was telling us to stay away, but we would not give up, for we had one mission and that was to find him. After hours of walking up and down the muddy trails we had finally made it...we "captured" the beast! :)

Okay...so that was a LITTLE exagerated, but Its way more fun that way! Today we went to a National Park and took a hike to a couple waterfalls! It was absolutely gorgeous! Although it was raining and cold and super muddy and I am going to have to wash my shoes, we all had a great time taking pictures and just spending the day with each other.

Entering the Roaring Forest...

Caleb, getting his armor on lol



Over trees, through mud holes, leaping from rock to rock we hiked...



The rain pelting down on us, we continued to hike...



....and hike



we grew tired and hungry but No Man was Left Behind!

FINALLY....

...We "CAPTURED the ROARING BEAST"









Pont Melin-Fach Waterfall

Sgwd Gwladys Waterfall

Today was just another reminder of just how Marvelous and Wonderful my Savior and the Creator of all of this is!

"And God said, "let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation; seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. -Genesis 1:9-11

-Lissa