a GREAT day

Today was just a fantastic day.

I woke up feeling SO rested. One of the great things about being in a new situation like this, so far from home, is that it has been an opportunity for me to know God more. I'm learning to just let go and trust him, and it has been really beautiful--probably the best thing about this whole experience. So last night before bed I had been praying to cast my cares and worries upon Jesus, and after that I slept so hard that I didn't even know what day it was when I woke up this morning. God is so good.

After I remembered that it was Tuesday, the day my friend Mikey has promised to take me to Liverpool and see some fun things he had planned, I got really excited! The sky was blue, the sun was shining, it was almost optional jacket weather. I mean, it felt like a Houston winter day. Almost. As I jetted out the door, I even wore my SUNGLASSES.

When I met up with Mikey he handed me a list of about a hundred things he wanted to show me. Now you see, Mikey is young and ambitious and I figured we would be lucky to do half the things on his list. I read it, smiled, thought everything sounded great, but little did I know that he meant some serious business about working our way down that list....

First we went to West Kirby, which is just outside Liverpool. It is where Mikey grew up so he was able to show me his neighborhood and waterfront where he used to hang out, his old house, and his schools. It was super cool just to see normal stuff like that. We also went to a park where we climbed up these hills and were able to overlook the River Dee to see both Wales and Liverpool on the other side. It was absolutely beautiful and so nice to be there with someone who had been there a million times before, knew what they were talking about, and could point out to me everything I was looking at around the horizon.


We then went to Marigold's for some seriously legit fish and chips. No ketchup, no napkins...just fried fish, fried potatoes, and mushy peas to dip them in. I almost need bipass surgery just thinking about it...but it was good while it lasted. We got our lunch to go and then took it down to the dock and ate on a bench next to a charming elderly lady while watching the water.

Next on the agenda was Royal Liverpool Golf Club, only the place where Tiger Woods last won the British Open in 2006. I took a picture, texted my dad...it was good :)

Next we went to Red Sands Beach, just off the course. All the rocks were made of sandstone, which was especially neat when we saw the cathedral later in the day because it is built out of that same stone. It was sunny and the water was all glittery...it was lovely.


Next we headed into Liverpool proper. Now, you have to understand that my friend Mikey is probably the most die hard sports fan I've ever met. He loves Everton Football (soccer!) more than I love most things in this world. It's actually quite entertaining, and interesting too, because football is a HUGE part of being English, and being an American (and well, being myself) I know nothing, so he can tell me anything I'd ever want to know (and much more).

If you know anything about football/soccer, Everton is the team that the two American players Landan Donovan and Tim Howard (or Tim Hughes? something like that...) are currently playing for.

Anyways, we went to the Everton Football Stadium. It was the first stadium to have a bunch of cool, random things that I don't remember right now. Program guides was one of the things, but that was the least important one.... Mikey took me around the side of the stadium and asked a maintenance man if we could go inside, and sure enough he let us! It was really cool to see and between that and Mikey's nonstop banter about how awesome they are, I kind of decided that I would support Everton. If you live in England, you have to support someone. So now I have a team, so I feel that much cooler :)


After Mikey wiped away his tears of joy, we headed over to this park that overlooked Liverpool. Very neat.

From there, we went to the Liverpool Cathedral. It was huge and beautiful and amazing. I'm always so amazed by structures like that. One of the coolest things I learned was that the Anglican Cathedral (where we went) and the Catholic Cathedral were built on two opposite ends of a street in Liverpool called Hope Street. I like that :)


Next we used the GPS to find the houses where both John Lennon and Paul McCartney grew up and wrote some of the Beatles songs. It was so cool because other than a little sign stating the importance of the house and when tours were, they were both just normal houses, on normal streets, in normal neighborhoods.

20 Forthlin Road, Paul's place

251 Menlove Avenue, John's place

We were unsucessful in finding Strawberry Field, but we did drive down Penny Lane and see a few of the sights along there that the song talks about :)


Lastly, we went to Finch Farm, which is the Everton Football team's training field. Mikey tried to use the whole "this is my nice American friend and she really wants to meet Landon Donovan" thing to get us in, but the guard man said the guys weren't practicing today.

At the end of the day I was just in awe of how much we had done! I couldn't be more thankful to have such a great friend who would be willing to spend a Tuesday showing me all these cool things in his hometown.

We got back to Chester in time to go to Christian Union, which is always wonderful. I can't even begin to tell you how blessed I am by the people I have found there. I was just looking around tonight in awe of all the beautiful, amazing people God had gathered together in that one room. I love them, and I think they might love me back...I hope :)

It was the perfect ending to a great day.

If you're still reading this novel, sorry. Thank you. xoxoxo. Goodnight ♥