Why Do I Run?

Sometimes people ask why I run. I don't usually know what to say so most of the time I just smile and say, "I dunno. I like it, its fun." After today's run though I feel like I can explain pretty well why I do it.

Its true that I run for fun. Its good for my health. It relaxes me, it gives me time to think. I listen to music when I run and usually I sing along in my head, but today I couldn't even tell you what songs were playing. Today was one of those days that, while running down a hill I knew I was going to have to run back up, my head said, "Yeah...Sam, you're not going to make it back up this thing, you know that right." Then, right on cue, my body took over, as if to say, "Watch me."

Times like that are the reason I run. I run for that moment when my mind gives up and I don't think I can go any further. When my body takes over. When all of the anger, all the frustration, all the fear, all the anxiousness, all the sadness, all the crap just gets pounded out of my body and left on the trail. Suddenly I feel lighter, I feel faster, and I feel refreshed. Its a weird sensation - feeling refreshed just after feeling dead tired. I think that's what they mean when people talk about a runner's high. It doesn't happen often, but that's why I run...for the times it does happen.

I try to run everyday. Sometimes I totally want to but other times, like today, I have to force myself. I know that the days when I don't want to run are the days when I need it the most - the days when it really counts.

So, there you have it. That is why I run. Oh yeah...and because, oh I dunno. I like it, its fun. :)

Happy Father's Day Dad

This father's day I wanted to let my dad know how much I love him. What better way than bragging about him to the whole world (ok...just those that read my blog...all 6 of them haha).

The top ten reasons why my dad is AMAZING!

1. He hates the pink jelly-bellies so I always get to eat them
2. He comes up with the best nicknames...seriously, nothing beats Boo and Pook
3. He knows how to grill any kind of meat...and it ALWAYS tastes delicious
4. He listens to 95.5. AND 94.1
5. He has golfed with the lead singer of Train...unfortunately I don't have an autograph because he didn't know who Train was
6. He kept all his kids entertained in church by giving them math problems...I think we all learned algebra before the 10 commandments but thats ok, at least we have our priorities straight haha
7. He bribes his kids to be more agressive...I think my sister and I have both gotten candy for just running into someone on the soccer field.
8. He wants to be a redneck...unfortunately his mother raised him too well for that. He puts forth a good effort though, he really does.
9. He knows where the best restaurants are in every major city we visit.
10. If you ask him for something right before he burps he will always say yes (his burp sounds like YUUUUP)

Ok, seriously now. The real top ten reasons why my dad is the greatest.

1. He works hard so the rest of the family doesn't have to - My mom hasn't worked since we moved to Las Vegas which I think is a great blessing on our family. He has also made a deal with us kids that we don't have to work during the school year as long as we keep our grades up and are doing some sort of after-school activity. I think that is a reason why we are all so successful in school and still learn the value of hard work.

2. He goes to all his kids' games, performances, races, meets, events, etc. - Trust me, our family has a lot of them. During a race I always knew where I could find my dad. He is even there in the freezing or with a Pepsi when its 110 degrees out side.

3. He is compasionate - I remember after one race that I had done particularly bad in, my dad, knowing that I didn't want to talk about it, did not lecture me on what I did wrong, but just suggested that we stop for a smoothie on the way home. I can't even remember where the race was or why I had done so poorly, but I remember the smoothie after with my dad.

4. He cares about his church callings - I remember times when my dad was on the High Council and he would come home after a particularly hard meeting and just be exhausted. I knew that because he cared about the people, these meetings were emotionally draining on him.

5. He saves lives each and every day - I know that my dad loves his job and he does it so well. That being said, his job is never put before his family.

6. He treats my mom with love and respect - This is such a good example to my brothers. I want to find a husband that treats me as well as he treats my mom.

7. He is always willing to give a father's blessing - Some of my favorite memories are sitting in the chair in our family room getting a blessing before school. I can always think back to these blessings when I am having a hard time at school and I know that it will be ok.

8. He has taught me what is right. Because of his example I know what choices I should be making and I think my siblings can say the same.

9. He knows what is good for me but doesn't force me into it. I have made many decisions that didn't particularly align with my dad's wishes but in the end I always turn around and realize that what my dad wanted me to do would have been the best option. He teaches me, but does not force me...allowing me to learn for myself.

10. I know that he loves me - I know that whatever I decide to do and whatever mistakes I make, he will always be there loving me.

Happy Father's Day dad...I love you!

Traveling with the Parents and Going Home

After I left the Centre I got to travel around London with my parents for a few days. On Monday we went out to Kent to go to Leeds Castle. The cool thing about this castle is that it was lived in as late at the 1960s so there is totally modern furniture in it...with electricity and everything.

My mom and I in front of the castle.

The grounds of the castle were beautiful. The gardens were incredible and they even had a falconry and a hedge maze. My parents and I found our way through the maze and into the grotto in the middle which was a creepy but relaxing way to end the maze.

My dad and I at the top of the grotto in the middle of the maze.

After our trek through the maze we walked through the grounds of the castle some more and found this...a dog collar museum, full of...dog collars. Not the most interesting museum I have seen...lets just put it that way haha.

Later that day we were supposed to go on a high ropes course with rope swings, zip lines and cargo nets up in the trees, but a storm started up and the lightening was too close so we had to cancel...bummer.

On Tuesday my mom and I went to St. Pauls to climb up into the higher galleries. I love love LOVE this building. It is my favorite in London...inside and out. One of my favorite things was the whispering gallery. Its on the first balcony under the dome. If one person whisper something to someone else on the other side of the dome, the sound travels around the walls right to the other person. How cool is that? I loved it and it was so cool to see London from high up.

Wednesday was travel day. Even though I was sad to leave London I was very glad to be going home. Our plane rides weren't too bad. The only exciting thing that happened was my purse being pulled out of the security line to be tested for explosives. After emptying my bag and swabbing it, they said it came up positive for explosive ingredients. Lovely. I had to get interviewed about my reason for traveling, what I had been doing...blah blah blah...while they tested my bag some more. Luckily, the other tests came up negative so I was allowed to go. Now I know not to take that bag through security. Just not worth it.

It is so good to be home. I really missed my siblings, my aunts and uncles, and my cousins. It will be fun to get back into real life...whatever that is. I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to go to London. I learned so much, not just about London and the classes I was taking, but about myself which is great. I will always remember my short time spent in London...as cheesy as it is, a small part of me has been changed for good.

Final London Days

Its hard to believe but my time in London is coming to an end. I have officially checked out of the BYU London Centre and am staying in a hotel with my parents for the next couple of days. I have loved my time here, I can't believe its gone so fast. Since not a lot has happened these past few days, and because I have been super busy, I decided to group them all into a mega post...so get ready.

Thursday we went out to Abbey road and harnessed our inner Beatles.

Signing the wall...leaving my mark on London for ever.


So I was googling things the other day and I discovered that there is a Topham Street not too far from the Centre so I dragged Jordan along and we went to find it.

Its legit...it even has a street sign.

Topham Street. The entire thing. I was stading on the corner and that tree down there is the end of the street. Not much...but its something.

Friday night Jordan and I saw We Will Rock You with my parents. It was an interesting and entertaining show with a lot of fun, loud music.

Out in front of the theater.

Saturday morning I got up super early (ok like 6 but still) to get in line to see the Trouping of the Colors with some others in my group. Its this big celebration for the Queen's birthday where she goes up and down the Royal Mile and inspects her armies. Its cool to see, and it only happens once a year.


Our spot in line before the crowds got there. We were right outside Buckingham Palace so we got a view of the beginning and end of the parade, the air force flyover, the 41 gun salute by the cannons, and the whole royal family up on the balcony of the palace.

Waiting for the ceremony...check out the crowds now. It was really cool to be up in the front.

The Queen herself next to her husband, the Prince Consort.

Prince Harry and Prince William!!!

Today the group went to a Eucharist at St. Paul's Cathedral. It was a really interesting experience in a beautiful building. The best part for me was realizing how grateful I am for certain things in our church. I love the personalness of our church and the fact that even the most uneducated child can give a talk in sacrament meeting and the congregation can still feel the spirit. Nothing is better than that.

On the steps of St. Pauls.

Classic phone booth picture outside of St. Paul's Cathedral.

I am going to miss the Centre. Thank you to all of the girls (and Brandt) and faculty that have made my time here so wonderful. I will never forget it.

Stratford upon Avon

Today was our group's last day trip :( We took the coach to see all of the Shakespeare sites in and around Stratford upon Avon. It wasn't the best weather but it was still a pretty fun day.

First we went to Mary Arden's childhood farm. She was Shakespeare's mother and ended up inheriting a lot of the farm when her dad died. It was really cool to see a bunch of farm animals and watch a falconry display...definitely something you don't see everyday.

After the farm we went a little closer to Stratford and visisted Anne Hathaway's (Shakespeare's wife) cottage. The gardens were beautiful and the house had the Shakespeare's wedding bed in it...the one William gave to Anne in his will.

Outside Anne Hathaway's cottage.

Finally, we made it to Stratford where we visited Shakespeare's birthplace and wandered down to the church where he was burried, right on the river Avon.

I think the coolest part of today was learning how many of our words come from derivations of old English words and sayings. For example...that piece of wood that we eat dinner on every day, you know...the table...well in Shakespeare's time it was called the board (do you see where board games came from....they were played at the board!) and the coolest thing...only the head of the household got a chair...hence chairman at the board! How cool is that?!?! And window is just a messed up way of saying wind hole...thats what they called the hole in the wall. Neat huh? I thought so :)

I Do Believe in Fairies, I Do!

This morning started out pretty boring...we had our English final which wasn't too bad...just a lot of writing. I am just glad that its over with...only one class to go.

After class, Jordan and I took a bus down to the Tate Modern and spent a little while looking at the interesting art on display there. My favorite was the super sized table and chairs, or maybe the rope just laying on the ground. ahhh...gotta love modern art. We decided that half the experience was just taking the bus down to the museum. I love riding the buses here but they can get confusing, especially when you don't know exactly where you are going haha.

A cupcake I bought at the cutest bakery on the way down to the Tate Modern. It was so yummy and a nice reward for walking all over the city haha.

After dinner a group of us went and saw Peter Pan in the Park. Its a new play in a huge tent in Kensington Gardens. It is seriously indescribable. The movies they show on the tent walls make you feel like you are really there and the special effects were really cool. I felt like a little kid again.

The poster for the play...hopefully I will have real pictures up later.

The whole concept of the play is really hard to explain but this is the tent that it is. Its done in the round so there isn't a bad seat in the whole house and they project a movie up on top so it feels like you are surrounded. So cool!

Playing Tourist

Today Jordan and I decided to be a tourist for a while and see some of the famous London things we hadn't seen yet...even after living here for seven weeks. Our first stop was Harrods...the biggest department store in London. Seriously, its huge. You can buy anything here...even an elephant! And they have Princess Diana's engagement ring on display...wow!


After Harrods we went to Hamley's, a huge toy store. They seriously had every kind of toy I have ever seen. It totally made me feel like a kid again.

My parents flew in today so I got to go visit them a little while ago. I didn't realize how much I missed them until I saw them, I can't wait to spend some more time with them before we go home.

Uchtdorf Extravaganza

(The name my director gave to today)

Today was a special Sunday here in the UK. It was the regional stake conference and our stake was visited by President Uchtdorf, Brother Anderson from the Twelve, Sister Dibb, and a few others. It was a really good session. One thing I love about church here is how basic it is. The doctrine is taught plain and simple so everyone can understand it. The talks were wonderful of course.

In the afternoon there was a YSA fireside at the stake center where the same people talked again. I LOVE hearing the apostles in a smaller, more personal setting. President Uchtodorf is so funny! He even quoted Harry Potter in his talk! My favorite was when he was talking about our potential and not getting discouraged. He said remember...Moses started out as a basket-case too. haha

Cambridge

Just like every Saturday that we are in London, Jordan and I went to Portabello and got a fresh fruit cup and a pastry for breakfast. I am really going to miss that.

After breakfast we joined up with Rachel and went out to Cambridge. When we got there we were greeted with crazy long lines to get out of the train station and a ton of police officers. Not really knowing what was going on we were forced to be herded around the line until a police dog eventually sniffed us for drugs and let us go. I have never been sniffed for drugs before...so that was a first. It was kinda a fun game guessing who was going to get pulled out of the line though. haha We found out later that today was the Strawberry Fair in Cambridge. Its this huge music, art, theater, and crafts festival that was attracting tons of interesting people to the city.


Trying to avoid the Fair we decided to take a punting tour of the town. We got to see a lot of the famous colleges (Queens', Kings, Corpus Christie, Trinity...) and other stuff. It was a really beautiful day...I enjoyed our punting trip. After a little more wandering and some souvenir shopping we decided to head home before the drunk Fair crowds.

On the boat...with our punter.

We made it back to King's Cross in time to stand in line for a picture at Platform 9 3/4. Yes...I stood in line to take a picture there. It was totally worth it though haha.

Flying through the wall!

Tonight it seems like everyone is exhausted. We have finals coming up this week, a paper due, a book to read, and the pressing knowledge that we only have 7 more days to do everything that we need to before we leave. STRESSFUL...but I love it. haha

The Temple

Today a large group of us had planned to go to the temple. Its quite a trip but its totally worth it. We had to take the tube, then a train, and then a taxi...like 2 hours one way. It totally made me grateful for the 5 minute drive it is from my apartment in Provo to the temple...or even the 40 minutes from my house to the temple in Vegas. One thing I love about the Church is that it is the same all over the world. The temple holds the same kind of peace here that it does in Vegas and in Provo. I love it.


Since we got there a little early we went into the visitor's center and they showed us a video about families. It reaffirmed my knowledge of the importance of the family and helped show me how important work in the temple is.

The baptisms were wonderful. I loved serving with people in my group. The only boy on our whole study abroad (Brandt) deserves some thanks because he baptized all 14 of us...10 names each. I don't know everything about the temple yet but I know that I love being there and it is a place where I can always feel peace - something rare in this city.

Since the temple pretty much took all day it was dinner time when we got home. After dinner Jordan, Emily and I went bus hopping (one of my favorite activities) and ended up at the largest mall in London. What a find! haha It totally reminded me of the Fashion Show Mall. It was a lot of fun to just wander and window shop.

Kensington Palace and the Orangery

After fine arts class today a group of us decided to tour Kensington Palace and get a treat at the Orangery there. The palace was semi-interesting. Definitely not worth the 11 pounds it took to get in but we had to go for class...so that was that. The first part dealt a lot with Princess Diana's dresses which was fun for a while and then there was a large exhibit dedicated to debutantes...which I thought was just to take up space or something...but I dunno. The last part showed what some of the rooms looked like when William and Mary lived there. As always, I wish I could have seen more of the rooms...but it was still cool.

The Orangery however was fun. It is such a cute building and the treats are so so yummy. I got the lemon crunch cake but I may have to go back and try the Orangery cake or the coffee and walnut cake...both look so delicious.

Outside the Orangery.

My cute place setting.

After dinner Jordan and I went and saw Sister Act. Because we bought our tickets this morning we got front row discount seats which was really fun. I like being up close to the actors. It was a really funny show and the music was great. Not much of a plot but still fun.

Brighton and Bodiam Castle

The internet here has been struggling again (surprise surprise), but I have finally be able to load the pictures and fun stuff from the last couple of days. I hope you enjoy because I know that I have.

Wednesdays are day-trip days here at the London Center. Today we took a trip out to Brighton and Bodiam Castle. It was such a beautiful day...especially for Brighton, which reminds me so much of California. It was almost like being home.

Our first stop in Brighton was the Brighton Royal Pavilion. This building was intense and totally unlike anything I have seen in London so far. It was built by George IV to show off his wealth and he totally succeeded. The inside is extremely ornate, very bright and oriental feeling. I wish I could have taken pictures of the inside...you should definitely google it or something.

Outside of the Royal Pavilion. Even the outside doesn't really look like a palace.

After the Pavilion we got to explore the pier and the beach. It was so great to be outside and just enjoy the fun activities they had going on.

Brighton pier was so much fun! Jordan and I dared to go on this huge ride at the end of the pier that swung us out over the water...it was kinda scary...but awesome. I wish we had more time to spend there.


See! Doesn't it look like a ocean-side Californian town.

After Brighton we got back on the bus and drove to Bodiam Castle. It was really cool to see a castle that was smaller and not really touched by the tourist industry.

Outside of Bodiam Castle (it has a moat!) with Dr. Durham, our director.

The land surrounding Bodiam Castle.

We got in a little trouble. haha

Stuck in the stocks.

After getting back to London, Jordan and I hit up one of our favorites...NANDOS! you seriously can't go wrong here.

Center Fun

This morning we threw a bridal shower for the four girls in our group that are engaged. It was so much fun to spend time with the group and get to know these girls. Thanks to Brooke, Caitlin, and Kimberly for the food and Katie and Sara for the games and congrats to Jordan, Cassie, Rebbecca, and Heather. Hopefully I will have pictures of it later.

After the shower it was a pretty low key day...we just went to the Imperial War Museum for our arts class. I really enjoy this museum. It has a lot of interesting artifacts and information from different wars and gives a totally different (and humbling) perspective on world war events. I highly recommend it.

After dinner Jordan and I wanted to see a show but we weren't really sure where we wanted to go...so we just headed down to the West End and decided to look around. After having no luck at some half price ticket booths we just walked up the Mamma Mia theater and asked if they had any tickets that happened to be returned for that day (we had heard they didn't do student tickets so we didn't ask) but they had 2 student tickets in the middle of the second row! It was an amazing show. So much fun! There was a dance party at the end and everything. It was also really funny to see the leg hair on Sophie...yeah, we were THAT close.

MAMMA MIA!!!

Guilty...Shopping!

So I haven't really done any shopping in London yet...until today. Jordan, Rachel, and I went to Primark...this really cheap (but really cute) clothing store. It was insanely busy but we had some great finds.

Since that was pretty much the exciting event of the day I decided to take some pictures of the center. I am not done with the inside but I will give you what I have of the outside. I love the area we live in.

Palace Court! Love this street.

27...my home sweet home. The construction drives me crazy though.


I'm gonna miss this place.