Retrospective England

It seems like I post so rarely that it is hardly worth having a blog! Ah well- we do what we can. I am home from England, though I do miss being over there and the friends I made. But I don't really feel like a completely changed person. I experienced that more coming home from my mission. I did learn some things about myself over there that will be beneficial though. It was a fantastic trip, and I really loved just visiting all the amazing castles, abbeys, cathedrals, and ruins. The sheer age of some of the structures we saw is just incredible! I can now officially check visiting Stonehenge off of my bucket list, which is oddly a relief for me because I didn't actually die before I could see such a renown place. It's funny that I even have a bucket list of any kind, because I kind of hated that movie. Anyhow, have a fantastic week everyone!

Away to England...

I don't really know what to talk about! I am going to England on Monday for two months, which will be amazing. I hope to update photos and thoughts as I traipse about the UK. I am so excited! But I am going to miss my roommates so much. I can't say how much those girls have blessed my life. And I know no one is really going to read this, but that's okay. I don't exactly know what I want to focus my blog on. I think writing about literature is a fantastic idea! I will have to start writing book reviews, and any essays on classic novels. I just finished a British Novel class at BYU, and that was fantastic. The last book I read was Tess of the D'Urbervilles. I really like Thomas Hardy, but he was almost a cynic at times. The book is so intense, although it doesn't necessarily appear that it would be on a quick perusal. It is beautifully written, especially if you like natural settings and landscape details. But it's more than the language he uses for description and rhetoric. It's the driving emotion behind Tess' character. She is so real and human, yet at the same almost fairy like and ethereal. I think those who have gone through the same experience her character does will particularly connect with her spiritually and emotionally. She goes through this tragic journey; well, in some way all the characters do. But though I was almost speechless at the end, it seems that despite the things that go awfully wrong in the story, it never looses a sense of hope- but then, that all depends on how you interpret things. I'd recommend this book in a heartbeat; it's a definite part of classic British literature!

At the Beginning...

Well, not exactly. I'm 22, and have a bit of life experience. But, I seem to be learning many things all over again since I returned from my mission to San Diego. Good thing? Probably.
I'm enrolled in summer term, which I love, except I have to bully my brain into working academically again. Other than that, Welcome Home, huh?