my friend cheesy and i made the acquaintance of a very sweet little english woman while we were in the dales. we had tea with her then she offered to drive us around the dales to take photos and see all her favorite places. seven hours and thousands of photos later, we returned to the camp happily exhausted from our wonderful day. here are a few of our adventures:
while we were in the dales, we stayed in little cabins at a christian retreat compound called the jonas centre. from the cherry blossoms surrounding the campus to the big red phone booth, it was wonderful and so quintessentially english. we explored, chased sheep, played cards late into the night, had worship nights and prayer meetings, ate amazing meals and lots and lots of great fellowship. it was the perfect home base for a weekend away and i’m so glad i had my camera to capture it.
this past week, my school went to the Yorkshire dales on a retreat. I can honestly say I’ve never been anywhere so beautiful in my entire life! it is beyond stunning there! I probably took a million pictures so ive prepared quite a few posts over the next few weeks to attempt to illustrate my wonderful week. the dales is somewhere I can see myself going back time and time again and never getting tired of. it reminds me of the ring of kerry in ireland, which is one of my favorite places in the whole world, mixed with the quaintness of carmel-by-the-sea. I had so many great experiences and adventures over this week and I wish it lasted longer. so stay tuned to follow along on my beautiful week in the dales.
eating // all kinds of veggies and even more kinds of british chocolate
drinking // yorkshire gold tea (when in rome, right?)
practicing // patience and diligence
learning // british slang from the wonderful brits in my life
playing // the band brolly on repeat
finishing // my big apologetics paper. wish me luck
reading // this momentary marriage out loud with my roommates and les mis on my own *still*
walking // to the minster daily to pray and read
loving // all the wonderful relationships i’ve made in such a short period of time
cooking // nightly feasts with my roomies
wearing // basically the same thing everyday: dress + tights + flats
working // on homework at caffe nero or one of the many other cute coffee shops in town
traveling // to paris in may *fingers crossed*
wanting // to take my camera out more and for this semester to never end
easter this year was pretty spectacular! the night before, i made cookies with my roommates then i made flower crowns with some other friends. easter morning, a bunch of us put on our easter best and helped serve at church. i think one of the best compliments i’ve received in a while is that i “looked like the bride of Christ”. i’ve been reading this momentary marriage by john piper with my roommates which talks about how we as the church are the bride of Christ which made the compliment especially sweet. after church, we had a picnic on the top floor of our school’s coffee shop and ate lunch and fellowshipped. a few of us left lunch early to attend evensong at the minster which was such a wonderful experience. the music was heavenly and the sermon was fantastic. i went to dinner at a fancy fish restaurant in town with my friend ingliv then came home and ate our easter chocolate and reflected on this amazing day. but what made this day most special is that it celebrates Jesus’s resurrection from the dead. i am writing a paper on this topic for my apologetics class so it is especially near and dear to my heart this easter. the fact that the Son of God died for my sins then rose again will never cease to blow my mind. i hope this ‘easter state of mind’ won’t just be something i meditate on during easter but the whole year around.