London - Windsor - London - Paris - London -- "All Things to Enjoy"

One of my favorite Bible verses right now is:

"Trust...in the living God,

Who gives us richly all things to enjoy."

--1 Timothy 6:17 NKJV

I found an adorable tote bag (I use it as a work bag during the spring) on the (in)courage website that has this verse on it with precious birds and tree designs, and my sweet hubby bought it for me for Christmas.  So every weekday on my shoulder, that verse oozes, like osmosis, into me, reminding me of God's overwhelming and wonderful blessings, provision, and love.  And this past April was no exception.  As a matter of fact, it was lovingly jammed FULL of amazing blessings from God.  Like, huge first-time experiences and amazing lifetime-remembering memories...and I know they were ALL gifts and blessings from God "Who gives us richly ALL THINGS to ENJOY".  Super duper amazing blessings from God.  Thank You, thank You, thank You, Lord!  You are so wonderful!!!  :0)

So...here's the recap:

In April, I got to go to Europe with my sweetie!!!!!!!  I know!  Who (especially not me!) would ever think this simple farm girl would get to sleep (I say that loosely) on a plane, fly over an ocean, land on a completely different continent, and be in beautiful and wonderful and amazing Europe?!?!?  My hubby had to go for business, and we figured out only a week or so beforehand that I could go too!  We flew out on the afternoon of April 1st and landed Saturday, April 2nd in London, England, UK!  It was amazing to see all the iconic London / British monuments...to hear Big Ben ring, to see Buckingham Palace where a real queen lives, to eat fish & chips, to light a candle in the breathtaking churches of St. Paul's and Westminster Abbey, to attend Mass in Westminster Cathedral and Evensong in Westminster Abbey, to see the London Eye and red phone booths and royal guards with big poofy hats, and to be amongst all the pre-royal-wedding excitement!  It was the absolute PERFECT time to be in London with everything blooming for spring.  Absolutely breathtaking and so amazing!

Me & my sweet hubby in front of Parliament



Parliament



Me beside Westminster Abbey

Me by the front doors of Westminster Abbey.
Just a few weeks later, this is where Catherine unveiled her beautiful wedding dress as she married Prince William!

Kissing in one of the many BEAUTIFUL parks.  So beautiful and romantic!!!

Buckingham Palace!



Buckingham Palace.  Amazing!





Matt in front of Buckingham Palace. 
Behind his left shoulder is the balcony where a few weeks later Prince William and Catherine kissed.  :0)



Matt just outside our hotel across the Thames from Big Ben and Parliament.

Me in front of the horse guards at White Hall...home of the British Prime Minister.

Big Ben!

On the steps of St. Paul's...where Diana and Prince Charles married when I was one.

London Eye at sunset

After a few days in London, we moved about 45 minutes outside the city to the town of Windsor for my sweet hubby to attend a work conference there.  Windsor is the home of Windsor Castle, the Queen's country home.  It was amazing!  For this Disney / Cinderella loving girl to see and tour a REAL castle was simply amazing, to light a candle inside St. George's Chapel was so moving, and to walk through the Great Windsor Park through all God's glorious nature was incredible!

Windsor Castle!  So amazing!!!  :0)

Changing of the Guard.  They played songs from "The Sound of Music".  (I guess because the Queen likes musicals.)  She was in residence at Windsor our entire trip.

Crowns on the lamps.  So fancy!

St. George's Chapel inside the Windsor Castle walls.

Front steps to St. George's Chapel

St. John the Baptist Church in Windsor.  All the churches on our trip were AMAZING to see!!!

At the doorway to St. John the Baptist's.

Beautiful blooms along "The Long Walk" to Windsor Castle.

Beautiful old tree inside Windsor Great Park on "The Long Walk" to Windsor Castle.
I did The Long Walk Tuesday & Wednesday.  It was so amazing to be out in God's creation!

Deer in the park!  My daddy would have LOVED it!  Simply surreal to see!!!

Front of Windsor Castle.  A REAL castle!!!

Walk from Windsor Great Park to our resort.

View of Windsor Castle through Windsor Great Park on my walk to "The Long Walk".



Windsor Park "Long Walk".
While on the Long Walk, I would sing praise and worship songs.
I was so humbled by such amazing experiences and in awe of God's blessings and beauty, that I couldn't help but SING!!!

"We praise Thee, O God, for the Son of Thy love,
for our Savior who died and is now gone above.
Hallelujah, Thine the Glory!  Hallelujah, Amen.
Hallelujah, Thine the glory!  Revive us again!!!"

"I love You, Lord,
and I lift my voice
to worship You,
oh my soul rejoice!
Take joy, my King,
in what You hear,
may it be a sweet, sweet sound
in Your ear."



Patisserie where I got yummy pastries to bring back to our hotel for me & my sweetie.

Our hotel.  We had the room with the balcony just above the door.  So quaint!

I'd have NEVER guessed, but Judge Judy and Friends were on ALL the time in the UK!  Awesome!!!  :0)

Our driver told us that many British celebrities had country homes out in the area of our hotel in Saville Court outside of Windsor.  This is the driveway to Elton John's country home.  Wow!!!  :0)
(He said Simon Cowell has a home out there too, but our journey didn't take us past his home.)

Matt & I across from Windsor Castle our last night in Windsor.

After Matt's conference out in Windsor, we moved back into London for him to work again at the London office.  I toured London some more, went to the noon Mass at Westminster Cathedral, spent the afternoon in the parks, and attended Evensong that evening at Westminster Abbey.  Words cannot express how overwhelmingly moving it was to be able to worship in such iconic and time-honored and breathtakingly beautiful churches!

Me outside the side rose window of Westminster Abbey.  So beautiful!!!

Doorway above the side door to Westminster Abbey.  So beautiful!!!

Statute of Abraham Lincoln in the courtyard close to Westminster Abbey.
The thought is that he is standing up from the chair he sits in at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. 
God bless America!!!

Queen Victoria Memorial fountain at the end of The Mall in front of Buckingham Palace.

Westminster Cathedral Catholic Church.  I attended the noon Mass here on Thursday.
So moving to worship in such an amazing place!!!

Inside Westminster Cathedral

A bird inside one of the many BEAUTIFUL parks

St. James Park on the way to Buckingham Palace

The BEAUTIFUL tulips in front of Buckingham Palace.
We later heard that they were planted for the wedding of Prince William & Catherine but bloomed a few weeks too soon...right when WE were there.  Gorgeous!!!

On Thursday it was so sunny and beautiful that EVERYONE came outside at lunch (in business suits, etc), sat on the grass in the parks, and ate lunch.  However, it was so pretty (and apparently quite rare for London) that many NEVER went back!  The parks were full the rest of the afternoon.  Talk about GLORIOUS weather for me & Matt!!!

After walking past Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guard, and walking back to Westminster Cathedral to attend the noon Mass, I cut back through the parks to visit the Princess Diana Memorial and then headed to Knightsbridge to go SHOPPING!!!  Here I am at the famous Harrod's department store!  :0)

Pastries at Harrod's.  It was like I was at Willie Wonka's chocolate factory!

After Harrod's I hurried back through the parks and London streets to attend Evensong (the sung evening prayer) at Westminster Abbey at 5PM.  I had been saving going inside The Abbey for a tour with Matt the following week (when he wasn't working), so when I entered The Abbey for the first time, it was simply amazing!!!  (St. Paul's too!  Beautiful!!!)

Matt finished his work in London on Thursday, and then Friday we boarded the Eurostar Train to Paris, France!!!!!!!  Paris is wonderfully incredible!  From the food to the flowers to the art to the romance in the air, it is unlike anywhere else in the world!!!  After we arrived Friday morning, we shopped the famous and beautiful Champs Elysees, and on Friday afternoon we toured the amazing Louvre; seeing such beautiful pieces of art by such amazing artists (that really I'd only before seen in Hobby Lobby posters) was simply amazing!  On Saturday we had the most amazing breakfast of my life (I tried to order in French and we ended up with GOBS of food...but it was so delicious!  Best mistake ever!!!), saw the incredible and iconic Eiffel Tower, and visited the amazing and beautiful Notre Dame, the epicenter of Paris and Catholic life there.  It...was...breathtaking.  The size, the arches, the flying buttresses (that my hubby, who took one architecture class with his architect best friend in college, loved), the stainglass windows, the statutes, the huge cross behind the altar, and the famous and spectacular rose window were surreal and incredible to see.  I was so overwhelmed by the size and beauty and the overwhelming closest I felt with God that I couldn't help, as we stood at the back and gazed through the arches to the altar, but cry.  :0)  So moving and special!!!  Saturday night we had the most amazing and romantic dinner and then watch the Eiffel Tower romantically sparkling in the night sky!  Sunday we toured more of Paris and went to more amazing art galleries before boarding the Eurostar back through the French countryside, Chunnel, and English countryside back to London. 

My ever-so-handsome Matt boarding the Eurostar Friday morning heading to Paris!  Je t'aime!!!

The French countryside on the Eurostar.
It was beautiful.  You'd see field and fields of flowers and then every five minutes or so a group of little red-roofed houses with a church steeple in the middle.  So quaint and beautiful!!!

Matt on the Eurostar.
Everyone LOVES this picture.  I LOVE him!!!

Our first meal in Paris...a quick lunch as soon as we arrived.
Everything...was...so...delicious!!!



Cartier along the famous Champs Elysees.



Me in my heels and scarf (when in Paris!!!) along the famous and beautiful Champs Elysees!
The Arc de Triomphe is in the background.

My handsome hubby in front of the Arc de Triomphe.

Me beside the beautiful flowers in the Jardin de Tuileries in front of the Louvre!

Kissing my sweetheart in front of the Louvre!!!  <3

My handsome hubby & me in front of the arch in front of I.M. Pie's Pyramid in front of the Louvre.

In front of the arches on the side of the Louvre.

Inside the Louvre.  Me and my sweetie and the Mona Lisa!

Venus de Milo

The famous and beautiful front of Notre Dame.

The side and famous flying buttresses of Notre Dame

The Seine River

Kissing at sunset in the Jardin des Tuileries

Eiffel Tower!!!

So handsome!  Love him!!!  <3

Kissing in front of the Eiffel Tower.  Paris is SO ROMANTIC!!!  Je t'aime!!!

Having High Tea in our hotel's winter garden.  Behind me in what is now the hotel's famous restaurant is where King Louis XV had his ballroom!!!

Our High Tea.  (Sandwiches came out before the pasties but we ate them too quickly to take a pic!)
Everything was soooooooo yummy!!!
(P.S.  I had Marie Antoinette tea.  One of our hotel's conference rooms was where she took her music lessons.)

Outside the famous side rose window of Notre Dame.

Inside Notre Dame with the beautiful rose window.

Cross behind the altar of Notre Dame.  It was unbelievable to be inside.  I was so moved and so inspired to be in such a place of time-honored faith and beauty that, when we had circle the whole church and were standing at the very back looking through the long hall of arches to the altar, I cried.  Praise You, Father!!!

The Eiffel Tower shining at night.

The Eiffel Tower SPARKLING!!!  So romantic!!!!!  :0)

La Grande Palais (the Grand Palace)
Inside (after speaking only French to buy our tickets!) we saw an exhibit on Picasso.

La Petit Palais (the Petite Palace)

Inside the courtyard garden of the Petit Palais

An amazing, amazing trip with my wonderful Matthew!
Paris is so...

sooooooooo...

SOOOOOOOO romantic!!!  <3

We spent our last few days in London together touring the beautiful Westminster Abbey, seeing amazing pieces of art in the National Galleries (saved them for last so we could go together), and relaxingly enjoying London together before flying home after a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful trip! 

View from our third hotel room in London.  The Thames, Big Ben, and Parliament!
You could hear Big Ben chiming from our room.  So surreal! 
I remember playing "Big Ben" on our records in elementary school...and now to see it and hear it every fifteen minutes.  Unreal!!!  Lord, look what You did with this little bitty farmgirl!  Thank You!!!  :0)

On Monday, our last day in London, Matt & I toured Westminster Abbey together.  So amazing!
And the wedding was only 18 days later!!!

Inside the courtyard of Westminster Abbey.
(No pics allowed inside the Anglican Churches.)

By the horse guards of White Hall.

Cheerio!!!

Trafalgar Square

National Gallery in Trafalgar Square.  The MOST AMAZING pieces of art by Monet, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Picasso, etc, etc, etc.  So surreal!!!

My cutie in front of St. James Park just in front of Buckingham Palace.
Above the treetops you can see the London Eye and Big Ben.

Me & Matt & Buckingham Palace.  :0)

I love my hubby!!!

Sunset from our window in London.
You can see Big Ben and all the smoke stacks on the roofs.  Especially out in the suburbs, it looked like Mary Poppins!!!  Chim-chimney!!!  :0)

On the plane home after an AMAZING, WONDERFUL, and UNBELIEVABLE trip together!
Praise You, Father!!!

I kept thinking the whole time, as I was doing things and seeing things and being places I never dreamed I'd EVER do, see and be, what an overwhelming gift from God this whole trip was...to see His great world, to view His beautiful trees and flowers at the perfect time, to meet His children I'd otherwise never get to meet (until maybe one day is Heaven), to worship Him in such beautiful and time-honored places, to make such amazing memories with my wonderful hubby.  All so many AMAZING and WONDERFUL blessings!!!  From my Father God "who gives us all things to enjoy".  Thank You, Father God.  Thank You.

My Bible verse right before I left (I knew when I picked it but didn't want to say yet) was...

"I will praise You, O LORD, with all my heart;

I will tell of all Your wonders.

I will be glad and rejoice in You;

I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High."

--Psalm 9:1-2

I picked this verse for so many reasons...to praise God for such an amazing opportunity with my sweetheart, to remember to be a Christian woman to ALL I might while on our amazing trip, to rejoice in the beauty of God's world and peoples, to sing praise to His holy name, and for this sometimes scared-y cat to remember that the Lord "Most High" is higher than any ol' airplane in the sky.  :0)  And I did!!!  I felt SO CLOSE to God on this entire trip.  I silently prayed and sang songs of praise to Him on the plane; I prayed and lit a candle to His holy name in every church I could; I marvelled at the beauty and honor given to Him in such monumental and beautiful churches; I sang songs of praise to Him while I walked through Windsor Park; I felt His presence in the beauty of each flower and bloom, each huge old tree, each park of green and birds and squirrels, each fun and wonderful moment with my sweetie.  It was amazing!  I couldn't help, when I returned, to pick (for the second half of April) the following...

"Rejoice in the Lord always.

I will say it again:  Rejoice!

Let your gentleness be evident to all.

The Lord is near."

--Philippians 4:4-5

The Lord is near.  The Lord is near. 

To little ol' me...in this great big world...on such an amazing and romantic and wonderful adventure...the Lord is near.

Hallelujah...the Lord is near.

Thank You, Lord, for all the blessings You give us "to enjoy".  :0)