I know you love Disney but...really? ~a dis meet in London 5/15

[winkers]

That's crazy, guess they have to show they are not profiling and chose the most unprofile fitting couple.
Many years ago I was flying home from The Bahamas. We had flown down the night before in a horrendous storm, the weather was going to be terrible so we decided to just go home ( I worked for British Airways at the time so we just flew standby) anyway, I got pulled out of the line and sent for a strip search!!! They were suspicious because we were there less than 24 hours and I looked nervous. I told the guy if he has just been on the flight I came down on he'd be nervous too!! Didn't help! Not a plesant experience!

yikes! makes any of my problems flying seem like a pleasant experience! not sure how I would handle a strip search!

Great update and too funny. Brave staying in a flat there being how tiny they are. We stayed in Kensington. My biggest thing to remember there was looking the opposite direction to cross the street,

I hope you mastered the system over there.

brave....stupid.....

Kensington was a little too expensive for my budget but maybe next time.

I was nearly flattened daily by forgetting which way to look before crossing!

 

[winkers]

You may be wondering where I've disappeared to and truthfully....sometimes I'm not even sure where or what time zone I am in!

July 6th I flew to SLC to see my new nephew! I flew from washington and my little sister drove from Texas and we surprised our brother and his wife. It was so much fun. I spent the 6th to 15th in Utah then on the 15th I drove home to washington with my little sister her 2 and and one of our nephews. We spent a week at my house drove back to Utah for a night and then we drove to Texas where I am now untill August 1st.

Confusing? yes! I love spending time with my siblings but I am ready to be home! Evan, my oldest who just turned 19 got his mission call yesterday to serve in Albuquerce new mexico! He leaves Sept. 19th and my mind is in a whirl thinking of every thing I have to do before then!!

Basicaly, I'll be buying 2 years worth of clothes in the next month..

You may be wondering about the whole mission thing and how it works so I'll answer some of the most common questions I get....


He will be gone for 2 years

He can email once a week but he will only call home on christmas and mother's day

the limited contact is to keep his mind on seving the Lord and not the trivial things at home...it also helps with home sickness

we pay @ $500 a month.....for some reason this surprises alot of people that the church doesn't pay

he doesn't pick where or when he goes....after meeting certain standards and interviews with local leaders he applies or "sends in his papers" to church headquarters and they offer "a call" to serve in a certain mission which could be almost any where in the world.

While prostelitizing (I know I just messed up the spelling of that word) is a large part of a mission he will also do weekly service. There are some missions that are totaly service oriented....like teaching English in China, some provide medical services in under-developed countries...etc...

While on his mission he will always be assigned to a companion....he will not be able to date....go to movies.....basically 24/7 is devoted to serving Christ.

This is something he has waited his enitre life...well...since he was around 4 and could understand the concept, to do. As a mom I couldn't be prouder of him.

Yes...it will be hard on me. But at the same time, this is what he has been trained to do his entire life. The young men who serve as missionaries have to meet high standards of worthiness and it isn't easy or something that you can do by just coasting along. He has a stong personal relationship with Christ and is devoting 2 years of his life to serving him and his fellow man.

I do worry about him, it isn't unusal for our missionaries to be persecuted....my dad was even shot at on a regular basis where he served. But, there is no where I would rather him be. And while I will miss him constantly, to him I will show a brave face.


ok...so if there isn't anything I covered and you have a question feel free to ask.

 

[winkers]

I got side tracked! Here's some pics of my brother and family I took

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Hi Cherie, I know you must be so proud of your son!

One of my good friends had her son on a mission in Texas a few years ago - he came back so grown up and ready to take on his education and his life, and so well grounded. -it was very good for him - very hard for her sometimes, though. I will be thinking of you. ((hugs))

I can't get the extra smleys to come up for me -

Oh, I see your pics - what a beautiful family - thanks for sharing!

 

[ddstratton]

Wow! You've been busy!

Good for Evan, for following through on something he's wanted for so long. It will be hard on you guys, not seeing or talking to each other, but you will at least have some contact through email. You must be very proud of him, and I wish him the best!

And those kids are just cuties!!!

 

[scottny]

Hope you enjoy the rest of time. Oh wait tomorrow is the 1st.

Wishing Evan the best, I could not do it. I need my facebook.

What a cute baby. Love the first pic.

 

[winkers]

Well, I'm home and life is going way too fast. There's a lot to do before Evan leaves....I feel like I left my brain in Texas.

Hi Cherie, I know you must be so proud of your son!

One of my good friends had her son on a mission in Texas a few years ago - he came back so grown up and ready to take on his education and his life, and so well grounded. -it was very good for him - very hard for her sometimes, though. I will be thinking of you. ((hugs))


I can't get the extra smleys to come up for me -

Oh, I see your pics - what a beautiful family - thanks for sharing!

I am pretty proud of him!

Wow! You've been busy!

Good for Evan, for following through on something he's wanted for so long. It will be hard on you guys, not seeing or talking to each other, but you will at least have some contact through email. You must be very proud of him, and I wish him the best!

And those kids are just cuties!!!

thanks! It will be hard on me but there isn't anything I'd rather him be doing.

Hope you enjoy the rest of time. Oh wait tomorrow is the 1st.

Wishing Evan the best, I could not do it. I need my facebook.

What a cute baby. Love the first pic.

Evan may not be addicted to facebook but he does love his xbox...which he won't have for 2 years....I'm not sure if there's medication for that kind of an addiction.

 

[eandesmom]

Evan, my oldest who just turned 19 got his mission call yesterday to serve in Albuquerce new mexico! He leaves Sept. 19th and my mind is in a whirl thinking of every thing I have to do before then!!

Basicaly, I'll be buying 2 years worth of clothes in the next month..

You may be wondering about the whole mission thing and how it works so I'll answer some of the most common questions I get....


He will be gone for 2 years

He can email once a week but he will only call home on christmas and mother's day

the limited contact is to keep his mind on seving the Lord and not the trivial things at home...it also helps with home sickness

we pay @ $500 a month.....for some reason this surprises alot of people that the church doesn't pay

he doesn't pick where or when he goes....after meeting certain standards and interviews with local leaders he applies or "sends in his papers" to church headquarters and they offer "a call" to serve in a certain mission which could be almost any where in the world.

While prostelitizing (I know I just messed up the spelling of that word) is a large part of a mission he will also do weekly service. There are some missions that are totaly service oriented....like teaching English in China, some provide medical services in under-developed countries...etc...

While on his mission he will always be assigned to a companion....he will not be able to date....go to movies.....basically 24/7 is devoted to serving Christ.

This is something he has waited his enitre life...well...since he was around 4 and could understand the concept, to do. As a mom I couldn't be prouder of him.

Yes...it will be hard on me. But at the same time, this is what he has been trained to do his entire life. The young men who serve as missionaries have to meet high standards of worthiness and it isn't easy or something that you can do by just coasting along. He has a stong personal relationship with Christ and is devoting 2 years of his life to serving him and his fellow man.

I do worry about him, it isn't unusal for our missionaries to be persecuted....my dad was even shot at on a regular basis where he served. But, there is no where I would rather him be. And while I will miss him constantly, to him I will show a brave face.


ok...so if there isn't anything I covered and you have a question feel free to ask.

Ok, I have questions

How does that work with school? Is it assumed that college will wait, or stop while you are on mission? I always wondered about that part. I am curious though about the prostelitizing part. I understand spreading the word via service missionary work but have always wondered how effective the door to door thing is and if the church has considered other ways of reaching out to folks. More curious than anything really. I can't believe your dad was shot at! I can see not opening the door, but shot? That is just crazy. What about girls, what do they do? Is it a choice or a requirement to go on a mission? Sounds like he had to apply and be approved, are there some kids that opt out and if so are there repurcussions with church or family? I guess the question is more is it assumed that all young men will do a mission? Again, just curious. Is he housed by the church or by a local family? I would imagine that he'll have strong support system and that is comforting. I knew about the no dating, didn't really think about it extending to all electronics and movies/tv though, it sounds intense and life changing! Now this is a very silly question but, don't they have a basic uniform they wear while out? It would seem like you need to buy a lot of the same thing and hope he doesn't outgrow it. You aren't allowed to send more underwear if he runs out? Or socks?

I can only imagine how proud, excited and scared you must be.

 

[winkers]

Ok, I have questions

How does that work with school? Is it assumed that college will wait, or stop while you are on mission? I always wondered about that part. I am curious though about the prostelitizing part. I understand spreading the word via service missionary work but have always wondered how effective the door to door thing is and if the church has considered other ways of reaching out to folks. More curious than anything really. I can't believe your dad was shot at! I can see not opening the door, but shot? That is just crazy. What about girls, what do they do? Is it a choice or a requirement to go on a mission? Sounds like he had to apply and be approved, are there some kids that opt out and if so are there repurcussions with church or family? I guess the question is more is it assumed that all young men will do a mission? Again, just curious. Is he housed by the church or by a local family? I would imagine that he'll have strong support system and that is comforting. I knew about the no dating, didn't really think about it extending to all electronics and movies/tv though, it sounds intense and life changing! Now this is a very silly question but, don't they have a basic uniform they wear while out? It would seem like you need to buy a lot of the same thing and hope he doesn't outgrow it. You aren't allowed to send more underwear if he runs out? Or socks?

I can only imagine how proud, excited and scared you must be.

Some do a year of college before they go...the standard age is 19...but they can go later ....don't remember exactly what the cut -off age is. Since Evan graduated this year, it didn't leave time for a year of college.

They don't do as much door-to door as in the past. Most often it's from refferals from members. It depends on the area. There is also a lot done through the internet....there are some missions that involve answering questions through the offical websites.

As for my dad being shot at...stories like that used to be farely common. You'd be surprised by the amount of hate and ignorance we come across.

girls can serve missions but don't go untill the age of 21 and they do just about the same as the Elders.

Missionary work is under the responsibilities of the priesthood which the men hold starting from the age of 12. There are different levels or "offices" of the priesthood that they advance through. So serving a mission is expected but not all do and there isn't a punishment or anything if they choose not to.

There are personal things they have to achieve to be able to go basically, have a knowledge of the gospel, a personal faith and relationship with Jesus Christ, high moral standards...which is another way of saying they don't have sex before marriage, don't look at porn...etc..don't drink, do drugs...they attend church weekly, pay a full tithe.......

a little interesting tidbit...David Archuletta is giving up his career to serve for 2 years....I was surprised to hear that. That's alot to give up.

His housing is taken care of by the church...usualy in an apartment but sometimes it is with a local family.

His basic uniform is a white shirt, tie , slacks or suit...with a name tag.
I'll be sending him off with everything but I can send hhim things anytime or he can go to the store once a week. They have a "preperation" or "p" day once a weeks to do things like shop, write home, laundry, a lot of times they meet with the other missionaries in the area and play basket ball or soccer.

whew....that was alot!

 

[eandesmom]

Some do a year of college before they go...the standard age is 19...but they can go later ....don't remember exactly what the cut -off age is. Since Evan graduated this year, it didn't leave time for a year of college.

I would think that works better than doing one year of college, leaving, then trying to get back into it.

They don't do as much door-to door as in the past. Most often it's from refferals from members. It depends on the area. There is also a lot done through the internet....there are some missions that involve answering questions through the offical websites.

Ah, so the young men I see riding around may or may not be going to do, but rather back and forth to appointment's or other?

As for my dad being shot at...stories like that used to be farely common. You'd be surprised by the amount of hate and ignorance we come across.

Sadly I wouldn't. Intolerance is rampant in this world, and country. Heck I see it in relatives much as it pains me to admit (and I hide their FB updates).

I'll be sending him off with everything but I can send hhim things anytime or he can go to the store once a week. They have a "preperation" or "p" day once a weeks to do things like shop, write home, laundry, a lot of times they meet with the other missionaries in the area and play basket ball or soccer.

whew....that was alot!

I'm glad he can at least get some physical exercise and down/bonding time. Being unplugged for 2 years would be good for anyone I think but some kind of outlet besides reading seems critical. He can email 1x a week, can he write in addition or is that it?

Wishing him Godspeed.

 

[winkers]

Near the end of our little ride to Greenwich we decided to get something to eat before heading back to our apartment. It took us, ok me a long time to decide where exactly to eat but after getting off the bus and wandering through a questionable looking neighborhood we settled on a nice looking pub.

I was excited….my first English pub! Hey, it doesn’t take much to excite me.
There was only one thing stopping be from opening the door to said pub…..I had read all about European restaurants and was a little worried. In America I have come across 2 kinds of service. Either you walk in and wait to be seated or you walk up to a counter and order. Easy peasy. All my hours of research had uncovered the fact that in England & France it wasn’t always that simple. I’ll get to the issues of French eateries later but from what I read in a pub it could work 1 of 2 ways. Either you walk in find a seat and then order at the bar or you find a seat and they come to you.
I realize after writing that out it doesn’t sound that hard …..but I didn’t know how to tell once you walked into the pub what to do!

So, taking a deep breath I walked through the pub doors confidently, and then came to a screeching halt once inside. It was like a maze inside and I didn’t know which way to turn…do I explore all the nooks and crannies? Should I ask some one where or what to do?

I was standing just inside the doorway, D.Jay behind me and I’m sure I had the deer in the headlights look on my face, along with a flashing neon sign that said idiot above my head. I finally managed to make my way to a near by table next to the window and sit down.

So now I’m sitting down with D.Jay across from me talking but I can’t hear him because my mind is racing with a 1,001 thoughts , mostly about not looking or acting like an idiot, trying to figure out what my next move should be. I was relieved to find a menu sitting at the table and tried to read it.

It took us about 20 minutes to decide what to order and then we made our way up to the bar. For someone who doesn’t drink and has never actually been to a bar this in itself was an odd experience. After ordering D.Jay walked with me back to the table and then went back to the bar to wait for our order.

I was sitting at my table just trying to blend into the scene yet still feeling completely out of place. The mixture of excitement, noise and sleep deprivation was making me feel very self conscious . It didn’t help that I realized an man several tables over was staring at me. Crap….my flashing neon idiot sign must have changed to a scrolling reader board!
D.Jay returned with out meals and I realized that I was starving! I had the special which was a small steak and garden salad and D.Jay ordered some sort of meat plate…which had 4 or 5 kinds of meat along with mushrooms and fries. One of the meats was called gammon ….we decided it must be some sort of pork. He really like his food but I’m a little picky when it comes to my meat….meat surprise is not my idea of a good thing.

I wanted to whip out my camera and take pictures of the food and inside of the pub but it was dark, crowded and that man was continuing to stare at me through the entire meal. It was my first day in a foreign country so I wasn’t ready to take pictures of my food yet.

As D.Jay and I were leaving the pub I told him about the man that had continued to stare at me the entire time we were there. He just looked at me , smiled and then pointed to the tv that was on the wall behind me above me head. I felt like an idiot. I had no idea it was even there. I was relieved to know that I didn’t have a neon flashing idiot sign above my head after all!

After the pub we headed to the apartment and fell asleep within seconds of hitting the bed….which was hard, lumpy and 3 inches off of the ground.

 

[Poolrat]

Oh My - Such an adventure. Funny about the TV above your head.

I would probabaly be the same way in another counrty worried everyone was starting at me and knew I had no clue as to what I was doing.

You survived the experience.

 

[smidgy]

a place where I used to waitress (the riverview) had a bar in the front. It was a horseshoe bar. some guy was getting mad at the guy across from him cause he kept staring at him. turns out the guy was looking at the tv above the guys head. guess the guy was drunk enough to not listen to reason and went around the bar to fight the guy!

of course the bartender intervened. we bartenders have a tougher job than people think!!

 

[Backstage_Gal]

We need Lady H to insert a boxing smiley here

 

[cp'ersmom]

That's funny. European restaurants can be very intimidating. At least in the UK the speak (sort of) English. Gammon is pork, it's generally referred to as Gammon Bacon.

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Oops! I think I would have felt strange, too - and expected someone to stare, so of course the guy looking at the TV would feel like he was staring at me - I think it would be a normal reaction - "it's all about ME!" right?

With all the language differences for two countries that speak the same language, I would have been afraid to order - not sure I want Kidney pie or something. I guess your steak was a safe choice!

 

[eandesmom]

Either you walk in find a seat and then order at the bar or you find a seat and they come to you. I realize after writing that out it doesn’t sound that hard …..but I didn’t know how to tell once you walked into the pub what to do!

I could see where that would be concerning.

It took us about 20 minutes to decide what to order and then we made our way up to the bar. For someone who doesn’t drink and has never actually been to a bar this in itself was an odd experience. After ordering D.Jay walked with me back to the table and then went back to the bar to wait for our order.

Ah my friend, you are missing out. Brewpubs have the best food! No need to drink but some seriously good grub. Ask my kids.

It didn’t help that I realized an man several tables over was staring at me. Crap….my flashing neon idiot sign must have changed to a scrolling reader board!

As D.Jay and I were leaving the pub I told him about the man that had continued to stare at me the entire time we were there. He just looked at me , smiled and then pointed to the tv that was on the wall behind me above me head. I felt like an idiot. I had no idea it was even there. I was relieved to know that I didn’t have a neon flashing idiot sign above my head after all!

Ok that's pretty funny! I could totally see that happening. Standard issue in a pub but can be disconcerting even if you know there is a tv above your head.

After the pub we headed to the apartment and fell asleep within seconds of hitting the bed….which was hard, lumpy and 3 inches off of the ground.

Oh dear.

 

[scottny]

David Archuletta has a career? that mad me laugh.


What made me more was the staring story. That is too funny. I do agree about the ordering at the bar or not. We only went to one place where you had to order at the bar. We got lucky.

 

[winkers]

Oh My - Such an adventure. Funny about the TV above your head.

I would probabaly be the same way in another counrty worried everyone was starting at me and knew I had no clue as to what I was doing.

You survived the experience.

It was the first time in my life I'd felt so nervous about going out to eat!

a place where I used to waitress (the riverview) had a bar in the front. It was a horseshoe bar. some guy was getting mad at the guy across from him cause he kept staring at him. turns out the guy was looking at the tv above the guys head. guess the guy was drunk enough to not listen to reason and went around the bar to fight the guy!

of course the bartender intervened. we bartenders have a tougher job than people think!!

that's funny! Luckily I was feeling too self concious to confront the guy. I'm sure you have enough tales from bartending to write a couple of books!

We need Lady H to insert a boxing smiley here

That's funny. European restaurants can be very intimidating. At least in the UK the speak (sort of) English. Gammon is pork, it's generally referred to as Gammon Bacon.

we decided it must be some sort of pork ....I'd just never heard it called that before.

Oops! I think I would have felt strange, too - and expected someone to stare, so of course the guy looking at the TV would feel like he was staring at me - I think it would be a normal reaction - "it's all about ME!" right?

With all the language differences for two countries that speak the same language, I would have been afraid to order - not sure I want Kidney pie or something. I guess your steak was a safe choice!

they really do have some odd meats that they eat over there! blood pudding, steak & kidney pie....I thought perhaps it was kidney beans but I was assured that it's actually kidneys......

I could see where that would be concerning.



Ah my friend, you are missing out. Brewpubs have the best food! No need to drink but some seriously good grub. Ask my kids.



Ok that's pretty funny! I could totally see that happening. Standard issue in a pub but can be disconcerting even if you know there is a tv above your head.



Oh dear.

Where I live we don't have any brewpubs.....remember I'm in the middle of nowhere!

I don't know how I missed the tv's all over the place but I'll blame it on them being muted.

David Archuletta has a career? that mad me laugh.


What made me more was the staring story. That is too funny. I do agree about the ordering at the bar or not. We only went to one place where you had to order at the bar. We got lucky.

David Archuletta still has a lot of teen girls madly in love with him.....according to my daughter. I was never a fan so I haven't kept up.

It's good to know I'm not the only one a little intimidated by the restraunts there! Luckily I had D.Jay with me who doesn't get embarassed or fazed by anything.

 

[Blueyed Girl]

I probably would have been doing the same thing without ever realizing the TV was there. Too funny!! Glad you two were fed and got some rest.....or not. Not sure about a lumpy bed only 3" off the ground.