Lloyd's of London

Today I had my first visit the the Lloyd's of London building. It is a really impressive building. The elevators, wiring etc are all on the outside of the building and the offices are all in the center. There is also an inside/outside look to the first few floors. I really can't explain it but it is impressive. Tres Moderne. Very vogue, modern design. It wouldn't say it is an attractive building, but it is really cool. There is even a man in a top hat and red coat to open the doors for you. How cool is that? I will likely be spending a few days a week working from there. Should be interesting. If you fancy more information on the building, follow the link below.
http://www.lloyds.com/About_Us/The_Lloyds_building/
Cheers everyone :)

Musical experiences and other ramblings

Friday I rode the train to a town called Hayward's Heath to meet with a customer. I wore a new suit and was told I looked rather smart (nicely dressed). It was quite the ride and made me appreciate that some people travel almost 2 hours to and from work everyday. Wow! Hayward's Heath is the closests I have been to the coast so far... but I am hoping to change that this summer. All of that is random, but there you go...
Saturday I went into London to meet some folks from work for a day at Covent Garden. Don't be decieved... there is no garden there. Anyway, I left from my local station at Weybridge and got to observe an interesting thing. As I was arriving at the station a group of older Brittish adults got off a tour bus. They were dressed to the nines... the ladies had on their hats and furs, the men had on costume-like suits... I felt like it was 1945 and the troops had just come home. It was completely outrageous. Even a Scot wearing his kilt. Anywho. To my surprise and delight when I got to my train platform, there was a swing band playing for this group of adults. They were marvelous. I wish I could have recorded the sight. I didn't have a camera or anyway to record it... The music made me want to break out into the Charleston right there. A bizarre but absolutely delightful experience. I am not sure what the group was doing or why the band was there, but I was really thankful to see it.
Then at Covent Garden, I got to see a really wonderful string quartet playing in a little area. Hard to explain, but absolutely wonderful... I could have sat there all day with a cup of coffe and just soak up the environment. Covent Garden is one of those places that you feel convinced if you sat there long enough, the whole world would walk by.
Anyway... I continue to be delighted with wonderful experiences all around. I have eaten some great food and even became a cannibal of sorts eating duck yesterday :)
Wonderful.

Weekend fun

Friday after work a few of us from the office made our way to the local pub before catching a train home. A few hours and a few drinks later, 4 headed for some Thai food for dinner. (which was amazingly yummy) At 11:30 I found myself finally at the train platform waiting for my ride home. It was a wonderful evening of great food and great company. It was really nice to get to know a few folks better.

Saturday I met two girls from the office for shopping in Kingston. We had a lot of fun. It seems like time here really does fly when your having fun. We met up at around 12:30 and didn't get home til around 8:30. Believe it or not, they talked me into buying a pink jacket... Who would have thought? I am so thankful to be surrounded by such kind and friendly people. I have definately found myself among friends.

This after church I met a few people my age and was able to h ave a cup of tea with them at a local cafe. I am looking forward to meeting a few more church people tonight.

I am so thankful for the people the Lord has brought to me. He is truly a God who hears our prayers. I pray most of all that I would be salt and light to those around me. I pray that I can show the love of Christ to others.

Bad Grammar

Apparently the gas prices affected my ability to proof read... Sorry about that last entry... will try to do better next time :)

Gasoline in the UK

Before you start complaining about gas prices... consider that today I filled that tank of a Toyota Corolla yesterday here in the UK. After the tank was filled, the total came to 45 pounds 75 pence. When converted into US dollars, the amount taken from my bank account was $90.95! Can you believe it... almost one hundred big ones for a tank of gas! Don't worry... I get reimbursed for this expense, but yikes that's a lot of money. Here gas is sold by the liter and is currently running at about 1 pound 8 pence per liter... sounds cheap ,but in then end it's astonishing! All that to say, be thankful for the gas prices you have. Next time you fill up for 40 bucks, count your blessings. Maybe I'll start taking the train more ;)

Snow in April, but God is good!!!

Through a series of events, I was able to find a church in Woking that I thought I would like to visit. Since Don is not here, I am on my own to drive and navigate to the places that I would like to go. I decided to be a big girl and try to drive to this church. YIKES!!! Well, I wrote down the directions and studied them and felt confident I was on my way. To my surprise when I woke up this morning, there was snow everywhere. So not only was I driving in England, to a place I was not familiar with by myself, I was apparently also doing it in the snow. I hesitated about going, but thought, well, even if I get lost etc... I might have a good time talking with the Lord on the drive. As it turns out, I didn't follow the directions I had written out, but did find my way to the church... I actually drove right to the car park (parking garage) and immediately found the church. It was amazing and a total blessing, not to mention the drive was absolutely gorgeous with the snow everywhere. (the picture above was taken after church when much of the snow had already melted)
So, I went to the church... It was really great... I really loved the worship and appreciated the wide age range of people there. As God would have it, I sat next to a lady named Maggie. She was so kind, I know that the Lord brought her to me. She invited me to have a coffee with her and several of her friends at Cafe Nero, just a little walk away. She is likely in her early 50's and so are most of her friends, but they were very kind and welcoming to me. It was a real blessing to be welcomed by these people. They have invited me to come to their midweek meeting in their home and have promised to send me directions. They are also going to get me in touch with the leaders of their 18-30 group. I don't know if this is where I will find my church home here, but I do know that God blessed me in going today.
God is good... All the time... everywhere.

John Smith's Grand National

Today was the running of the Grand National... It is quite the tradition here. Similar to the Kentucky Derby, but on a grander scale.
This race is old, old, old, and has been the death of horses and jockeys alike. It is a marathon for the horses... It is 4.5 miles long and includes the jumping of 30 fences... Apparently before humans rights activists got involved, the fences would be as high as 8 feet with drops on the opposite side of the fence causing the height on the opposite side to be 11 or so feet. Quite interesting.
I got involved because one of my teammates invited the office to join a pool on the horses. For 1 pound, you could have a horse randomly selected for you. It was actually cool the way it sort of brought the office together, and taught me a little about British culture. My pound bought me Point Barrow...
In the end, the winner was Comply or Die ridden by Timmy Murphy. It was the first time I actually wanted to watch a horse race. It was interesting to hear about the culture of it all from my co-workers. Quite fun.

As a side note, Don left for a three week stay in the States today, so I am on my own... I drove to Tesco today successfully and even reversed into my spot like most British people do... I was rather proud of myself. :)
Hope your having a good weekend.