Steaming Haggis and 'Worm Melk'

Dear Grace,

Getting behind on keeping you updated officially sucks. There's so much to tell you, and I know I'm not going to remember all of it, mainly because my camera keeps running out of batteries. So first off, I went to the most amazing show a few nights ago called Once: A New Musical.

Basically, it's about a singer/songwriter who has hit rock bottom and is intent on giving up on his music and his life, when he meets a girl who turns everything around for him and helps him find the courage to reach for his dreams again.

The next day I visited the Charles Dickens house museum, and when I got there I ran into Tyler and I ended up telling him about Once and how much I had loved it, and basically we ended up deciding to go again that night with Betsy and Jarom! Tyler and I went to Camden Market for kicks and giggles where he showed me the cutest tea shop I've ever seen before and where we took turns playing on the piano there, which was super fun.

Gosh I love that show! It really hit home for me because I hit a very low point in my life while I was living in Cedar City, and when I didn't have a friend in the world I met the most incredible vocal coach named Terri, who befriended me and loved me without question. Through her love and music, she turned everything around for me. I think I might have stopped singing and writing music altogether if it hadn't been for her.

The next morning a group of us took a long train ride to go for a walk out in the countryside.

While there, we saw the gnarliest looking oxen/cow things I've ever seen,

as well as a couple of castles and an adorable castle farm where everyone tried lavender flavored things (as lavender was the main thing grown on the farm). I tried a shot of ginger wine (which the entire group dubbed with the name "Hell in a Bottle") that probably burned a hole in my throat.

There was also a mini zip-line along the hike that we got to play on for a little bit, and at the end of the hike we ended up at this chapel: 

Of all of the cathedrals and churches I've been to so far in this country, this one sent all of the others away with the spirit that dwelt there. I've never felt so calm and serene and close to God in any chapel, LDS or no. I think that our religion gets so wrapped up in technical things sometimes that we forget that the most important thing is our personal relationship with the Lord. I honestly wish we had more of that feeling I felt in that chapel.

This week marked the beginning of our northern trip up to Scotland! The first day we stopped at a factory where they make things like tea sets and dinette sets and such, and I was totally psyched when I found a gorgeous teapot and three tea cups in the rejects shop for just £15! Talk about a dream come true! (I'm just kicking myself because I've got to figure out how I'm going to get those things home now).

The next thing we did was visit the town of Preston. Unfortunately, my camera batteries had died at this point, and I therefore have no pictures of my adventures there. Basically we went on a guided church history tour around the town and then Rose and I went and got dinner at a Chinese buffet. Because I had had some personal stuff going that day, I did the only logical thing a girl in distress would do and destroyed myself with food. Really though, I ate and ate and ate until I was seriously ill. I probably looked like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man walking out of there.

Anyway, moving on. The next noteworthy thing we did was visit the Preston temple to do baptisms for the dead. I had a really cool experience while I was there. When I went in to do confirmations, my my was racing elsewhere. Afterward, however, Andrew (the guy who had been doing the confirmations) came up to me and told me that he felt strongly that one of the names I had been confirmed for was someone who had been waiting for their work to be done for a very long time. That was really touching.

After that, we drove on a winding road (which made a lot of us pretty motion-sick) through the Lakes District to see the famous Beatrix Potter's cottage! I think the Lakes District has been my absolute favorite part of England I've seen so far. I'm just pissed that my camera died and that I couldn't find a shop that sold batteries until later last night, but I did manage get a few pictures on my iPod of a couple of things. After the cottage, Tyler and I went down the road to grab a cup of tea before we had to hurry back on the bus; but I'm so glad we went to that tea room, because the view from our table on the back patio was spectacular.

We actually ran into a group of girls from our little family, so we sat with them out on the patio and enjoyed tea and scones before we had to hurry back to the bus.

Our next stop was Dove Cottage, where the poet William Wordsworth lived back in the day, and after that we checked into the hostel we would be staying in for the night.

I've never stayed in a hostel before, but if I had to imagine what a cramped college dorm would be like, this would be it (except that this was a little bit more scary, haha). I wish we had had another day there though. It was such a pretty, peaceful place, and I had a nice time hanging out with Tyler and a super sweet girl named Ashlin. We watched Brave together down in the common room until Ashlin got tired and went to bed. Then Tyler fell asleep, and then I started going as well, so we decided to call it a night.

Today we got up and rode for a few hours until we came to the beautiful land of Edinburgh, Scotland. Almost as if he had been placed there to greet us, there was a guy bag-piping right out in front of our hotel when we pulled up, which absolutely made my day.

After checking into our hotel and dropping off our stuff, we headed up the road to see Edinburgh Castle. I just love seeing the castles here. I can't really say why I like them, really. Essentially, when you've seen one Medieval castle, there's not much variety in their architecture. Yet I can't help feeling something magical every time I get to see one.

After the castle, Tyler and I walked around Edinburgh and saw the sights. The views throughout the city are incredible no matter where you're standing. London is amazing, but I think I've visually enjoyed Edinburgh even more.

We walked up to the top of a hill where there was an observatory and where we had an amazing view of the city. I had another one of those moments where I had to stop and check to make sure I was really awake. The view from there was the same image I've seen in the photos I've pinned on Pinterest in the past, and it all seemed a bit surreal to me as I took in that sight.

After getting back down into the city, we did a little shopping and found a shop with my name on it:

and found a shnazzy new hat for Tyler.

After that we couldn't think of anything to do, as it was like 5:30 or 6:00, and as I have mentioned many times before, this whole country shuts down by that point apart from the pubs and shows. So, we decided to go back to the hotel and get some other stuff done with the free time we had - for me that was catching up on this post! So, now there's nothing left for me to do except go to the nearest pub and order a steaming plate of haggis and some 'worm melk' for dinner, and I think I'll have done everything I could ever hope to do in Scotland short of learning the bagpipes.

I leave you with a video of my adventures in Camden Market and on the hike mentioned above, set to the main song from Once, which I am in love with at the moment.