Time Out

Ok, I'm officially the worst travel blogger ever. Sorry about the long delay between my last post and this one. I've been so wrapped up in working and traveling lately that I can't seem to sit still long enough to write a post about what I've been up to.

Well, it's officially been 3 months since I started this journey and I'm now at the half way mark. Hard to believe that 3 months ago I landed in Dublin still in awe that I was actually moving to England. I've already learned so much about myself in the short time that I've been here, but I think that it's a good time to assess what I've been able to accomplish thus far and what more I want to do.

Since I last posted, I've taken a couple of great trips to Berlin and Paris. To keep it short and sweet, here are some of the highlights in each city.

Berlin
- Seeing historical buildings that I never thought I'd actually see in person (Brandenburg Gate, Berlin Wall)
- Food, food, and more food (dumplings, roulade, beer - need I say more?)
- Spending Sunday morning/afternoon at Mauerpark strolling through the flea market and listening to the karaoke in the park

Paris
- The Eiffel Tower at night
- Taking in the sights and sounds of Montmarte on a Saturday
- Brunch and strolling in the Jewish Quarter on Sunday morning

So with everything that has happened in the last 3 months I've realized a few things about myself, my career, my life. In some cases, it's been a harsh realization that there are things about my life that I'm not happy with. In other instances it's looking back at goals that I've set for myself 2, 3, 4 years ago and assessing how far I've come. There's nothing like being out of your comfort zone to do some real soul searching. I'm hoping the next 3 months will give me the perspective to actually make some serious changes for the better.

So, what's up next? Well, I'm in Dublin now for my team's quarterly meeting and I'm headed back to Leeds at the end of the week. I have a couple of weeks before going to visit my cousin Nicole in the South of England. My friend Elyse is visiting after that and then I'm off to Jordan for two and a half weeks to visit my Mom's family. Time is flying so I'm thankful for this brief time out. 

God Save the Queen

I hit the jackpot to be in England in 2012. Between the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics, London has never looked so good. I spent the weekend in London celebrating like a true Brit. It was the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the whole city was celebrating in what seemed like a large block party.

I took the train down on Thursday and met my friend Jackie who was in town for work. On Friday, we took a day trip with the senior crowd to Stratford and Oxford. We spent a lot of time on a bus where we were the youngest by at least 20 years, but got to see the Cotswolds (think lots of sheep and farmland) as well as Stratford (home of Shakespeare) and Oxford (home of Oxford University).

In front of Shakespeare's birthplace

On Saturday we decided to shop and wait for another friend Kate to come into town. Kate is taking a major leap of faith and is on her way to Kenya to work as the PR/Communications person for a company called Sanergy which builds sanitation systems in the slums of Nairobi. Amazing work and I'm so proud of what she about to do. Kate is also one of the funniest people I know, so if you choose to follow her blog you won't be disappointed.

Sunday was the day of the big flotilla on the Thames to honor the Queen so we made our way as close to the River as possible. Before reaching the river, we had a run in with Meredith Viera. When in London I guess.

Crowds by the river waiting to see the Queen's boat pass

Kate and Will