Sometimes life catches me offguard

I've been moving forward in a direction for a while, without really looking to either side. Moving to London has been the chance for new beginnings, new city, new flat, new job, new boots, etc...
Leaving behind all romantic complications in Atlanta and not looking for anything to "tie" me down in London, cause of course all girls know that guys only bring heartache. At least this was my mindset until recently, when life slapped me across the face (with a yellow glove :) and suddenly I saw someone amazing who had been standing there for months. So right now I'm feeling new hope, new chances. I feel like the winter has passed and the spring has come in more sense than one :)
It's time to kick off the boots, paint my toe nails and put on my beloved flip flops. Take off the black coat and throw on a dress. Twirl in circles under a rainbow :) OK, now maybe a I went a bit to far, but you get the idea.
I haven't felt so hopeful in soooooooo long. I think I forgot what it was like to really believe that life can be actually/honestly good sometimes. Life and my work has produced a more cynical side to me than I would like to admit.
I'm putting on my rose coloured sun glasses and walking out with a smile on my face :)

Waves Crashing

This time last week I was laying by the pool in Tenerife, enjoying watching my skin turn all pink. While I would certainly get bored laying by the pool, all day every day. I do consider that I am happiest and most content when I'm close to water. Maybe it's something about the sound of the ocean, or the sense of freedom and adventure that looking out from the beach into a wide ocean holds. I can't think of a place where I feel closer to God than when i'm walking along a silent beach, with nothing but the sound of the mighty waves crashing. It is an exilerating moment to recognize how small we are and how we are literally just a speck on this planet and in time. Yet somehow in the midst of recognizing our minuteness, I also can become overwhelmed with the realization that God actually really loves us all individually. MIND BLOWING. So, it looks like my next relocation will be close to the ocean. I'm sure there's Social Worky stuff around beaches!

On another note, I have decided that the most effective therapy for me at this moment is buying dresses. Dresses are definently the way forward in my closet for several reasons. The first being I don't have to match two items, therefore saving tons of time. The second being dresses might be the most comfortable item of clothing, ie. no digging in at the waist. And third being, I feel pretty damn it :)

London with no TUBE

Ever wonder what London would be like without the beloved Underground? Well I hadn't actually either, before tonight, when I witnessed what would happen to London if this wonderful transportation system that everyone constantly "has a winge" about, no longer existed. The result, complete and utter mayhem.
So tonight at aprox. 6pm I walked to the station on automatic pilot from a work home visit, only to look up from reading the Evening Standard to be faced with metal gates. It took my brain at least 5 seconds to think of the possibility that the station was CLOSED, Whattttttttttttttttt? An announcement comes on "No Northern line going Southbound" quickly followed by a collective groan and English tutting from the growing crowd. I then stand back to observe, hundreds, probably thousands of people doing the exact same thing. We all sort of begin to look a cross between panic stricken and dumbfounded, while walking like herds of sheep to the bus stops. I stand in a pack of a few hundred of my closest friends, all dressed scarily similar in suits with umbrellas. After a few minutes I see a bus approaching and start to prepare myself (ie, clutching bag tighter and oyster card in hand), as the bus crawls by I see faces pressed against windows and standing in all kinds of compromising positions, urgh.... Which leads me to a thought, people will do the strangest things in a moment of panic, men pushing women out of the way to fight for that 2 inches of invisible foot space, shocking.
Well I thought after a few more buses or what looked to be more like cattle carts rolled by, back to the good ole' fashioned walking. And off I went along with throngs of abandoned fellow Londoners, down the streets. Looking more like a scene out of apocalypse than Clapham High Rd.
And i thought to myself while walking in beat to The Arcade Fire, "don't think I would love London quite so much without the tube, and also time to make that bike purchase."

Why?

Well I never really thought I'd want to have a blog, mainly because it seemed too trendy (pretty stupid reason I know). Well I don't think it's very trendy anymore, and I seem to have a fun time writing my thoughts down, so why not. I won't be writing any words of great knowledge or anything, but probably just things that make me laugh, or random thoughts that I want to put down. I don't expect anyone to read this, it's more for more personal enjoyment; but if you find yourself stumbling across it at 3am, feel free to knock yourself out.
The title is quite random and has no deep meaning. I was out with friend tonight and we couldn't decide what to do. I just had this overwhelming feeling that the world (or central London at that moment) was our oyster, we could do whatever we pleased! (as long as we could reach it using our oyster cards of course ((for the Americans the oyster card is the all access public transportation cards in London))
Sometimes I have those moments where I feel invincible and like I control my life, of course God usually gently knocks me back down to size in mere seconds. But I do admit I love that feeling, of getting on a train to a destination unknown or walking into the woods with no end point in sight. Maybe its the pioneering American side to me, or the deep rooted hippy in me:)
Anyways, the world at this moment in life is my oyster card