Ode to the English Countryside

Hello from Amesbury!

I'm officially in England. How crazy is this?

I've waited for what seems like ages and bam here I am.

My parents and I flew from Calgary at 7:30 pm on Sunday and we arrived here at 11 am Monday morning. I never really slept on the plane so I was a bit of a grumpy yet grateful sight. I felt better once I had changed and refreshed myself a bit. You can see that the voice in my head is trying to be a bit more British. Out here in the countryside I find myself uber self-conscience whenever I speak! It's like "Oh lookie here, a lousy 'murican."

Let's see if four months here will do the trick.

So after picking up our rental car, and my dad brilliant getting the hang of driving standard and on the left side of the road, (which is WACKYTOWN I tell you) we made it to Highclere Castle, home of my Downton Abbey thoughts and dreams. Tickets were apparently sold out online but they had them at the gate (Along with plenty of 65+ tour groups).

Thus begins my selfies with classically elderly buildings. #oldfamousbuildingselfie

Just me, the servant, lining up to greet the incoming visitor. 

Everyone, the inside was absolutely gorgeous. And guess what? No photography allowed. Good thing there are three full seasons so far of interior footage. My favorite room? The drawing room. The seafoam silk covered walls really do a number on me. One thing I didn't expect was the collection of amazing objects inside. The furniture, namely, are exquisite. There is a desk in there that belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte! There was also a 18th century Chinese tea case, among others. Oh I just loved it. We also got to see the collection of Egyptian artifacts in the basement. Highclere+Me=BFF'S

Today we woke up after sleeping a full night, ate an English breakfast at Harvester's, and drove right on over to the oldest world heritage site that was in the neighborhood.

Hey Stonehenge!

Hah, nice try Megan.

After enjoying our stay and learning some things about ancient ruins, we made it to Salisbury. What a lovely provincial town! (does the term poor provincial town also apply to adorable British towns- or just French ones?) We parked in the car park, walked around and basked in the quaintness of everything, and looked at the market.

My dad entertained himself by looking at the construction sight while my mom and I bought dollhouse furniture.)

We spotted it! The main event!
(Spotting each famous site we come to is like being the first one to see the Matterhorn at Disneyland.)

Everyone, meet your new, best, old gothic friend, the Salisbury Cathedral. What a beaut. 

My parents said they wanted to be memorialized like this too. 

 I also said I would add a statue like this of my father and...

have Jack at his feet. 

We dined at the Greengages Cafe in Salisbury where they had delicious gluten free sandwiches. I had the bacon, brie, and cranberry one.

Afterwards, we drove to Stourhead Garden and took an evening walk.

looking out the grotto

What a lovely first two days of my adventure. I'm so happy to be here! Things are new, sometimes strange, home is far away, but every day is new and exciting so what more could I ask for?

Well, London is tomorrow, so I think that is a perfect request. I'm constantly reminding myself to enjoy the moment. Enjoy and relish each place even though you may be looking forward to the next one more. I'll get the hang of it eventually.

Cheers loves!

MM

An anniversary of some sort.

This time of year (the middle end of August) marks the time of my second major manic episode. It's basically first major, since right after that I was diagnosed. This year marks three years! From that glum day that September I would never have imagined what I have been through since, and I never would have asked for it. I can say that I have learned some lessons. I can say that we all are given adversity, and this happens to be mine. I can also say that no matter how dark and tattered the world appears, that vision never lasts. Beauty and light can always make it through, just given a little time.

No exaggeration, some of the times during these past three years have been down right bleak and cold and terrifying. They have also been humiliating and disorienting. I have the ability to become someone completely different from who I am during certain weeks and months, (not in the cool super hero kind of way) and that sure does take its toll. Living with this version of a mental illness affects your every day, every year for the rest of your life. The bright side of this kind of life sentence is that I can live my life. Its a different version of the life I may have envisioned, but it's just as beautiful and blessed as I could conjure in my dreams of an every day life.

I got my pills, I got my psychologist, I have my psychiatrist, and my humans (family, friends) who love me. I do also have my worries and regrets, but those I am negotiating with.

I have never really directly blogged on this subject, but I have often thought about it. I hope by being a little more vocal about it, and by giving my experience, I can hopefully find more of those who have shared a similar plight, and we can commiserate/celebrate together.

Yes, I am Megan. I have bipolar disorder. I am not bipolar (that's not a thing- remember that). I'm fortunate enough to rarely have to deal with depression, but I'm getting familiar with maniacal spectacles, as I have had four. I ingest three pills a day, (seven if you count them acne ones) and I go about my business. That business being party rocking, mainly.

I happened upon this post and it touched my soul. Touched my soul, in the wow-finally-I've-found-words-to-illustrate-feelings-I-never-thought-I-could-illustrate way.
(At first I was confused, I thought it was a bunch of gorgeous honey suckle recipes) but one part of a paragraph really stood out to me-

"But I found if I do what I can & never say nasty things about myself, it just passes. It's weather. Summer storms."

(My small quotation can do but little justice. She is such a beautiful storyteller. Now I truly hope this isn't copyright infringement. It was just too too lovely and special not to share.)

It's just weather. Summer storms. The weather changes, just as seasons do, with each new one bringing about a new view.

via

It just so happens that I'll always have my view from the ledge of bipollaire*.

*a loving term I came up with to improve upon the clinical, sterile sounding word bipolar.

bipollaire. French for crazy fabulous. 

 

 

Love,
Megan Marie

Highlights

{Well well well.. what do we have here?
in this past month I have been keeping occupied. Here's just a taste-}


My family came into town for over a week which was glorious. I'm a little loner baby of the family so having siblings around 24/7 was a real treat.
Highlights included:
Stampede and the accompanying festivities
Matt's birthday celebration
All of us reading World War Z at the same time
Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 and a bit of The Sims
Despicable Me 2
Watching the Tour (de France)
Momma cookin'
Beading bracelets
bubbles and bike rides
and snuggling (especially my little nuggets).

I miss them!

Now my days consist of cashiering (and returns) and the Depot which turns out is quite the adjustment. I am beyond grateful to have a job but sometimes fatigue gets the best of me and I complain about it. I'm learning quite a bit about myself in the process, especially that I know I want to work to have a job in the future that I'm really passionate about. This is a great little summer job for me though, for now.

The rest of the time is spent thinking about London, and most currently clothes and make-up. Over the past few days I've become obsessed with UK beauty bloggers/YouTubers (I dislike the word vlog. It's one of those words to me.)

My top three:
Zoella
Essie Button
Tanya Burr
and the list continues

Should I use my time for something else? Probably, but I am quite enjoying myself thank you very much. I am thoroughly researching my Primark, High Street stores, and TopShop expertise and expanding my English slang.


And this weekend I've made some good purchases for my trip including a suitcase, purse, and new shirts and the best pair of sweatpants.

I'll be back with more!

-MM

Clean-up continues

What a week!

Except for Thursday and today when I had to work all day, I was able to go out and volunteer everyday this week. I've had such an amazing experience so far! Clean up has only begun, so I know there is lots more to do. I've met the kindest, most gracious people. On Wednesday I went back with Abby to Rideau Park. We met at this family's home who had most of their basement cleaned out; we just needed to load the dumpsters. The man who owned this home is a provincial/city judge and said that we had a get out of jail free card for the rest of our lives! They were awesome. And while I was in the basement vacuuming, I found an old TMNT watch. I showed their grown son, and he was stoked. I guess one of the boys had hidden it in the chimney a long time ago and somehow it ended up in the basement wall. He said he was going to get it fixed and surprise his brother. Little stories like this warm my heart while I'm busy throwing a life's worth of valuables in the trash! Seriously, watches, fur coats, tvs, scrapbooks, shoes, everything is tossed. People sure are resilient.

I had no need to bring lunch, water or snacks because everywhere I looked I could find someone handing out anything you could need. There was a food truck parked on the corner that Shaw had paid for unlimited food for the homeowners and volunteers. It's evident that everyone here really cares about one another.

 On Friday morning Abby and I headed back to the same street. We loaded up more dumpsters and checked on the people we have been helping. One lady, whom I had first met on Monday, had been a nervous wreck. She was so upset and was having panic attacks that she couldn't even be in her home anymore. When I saw her again on Friday, she was a new person! Seeing improvements like this have made this time even more worthwhile.

Yesterday a group of us headed out to Bragg Creek. Their command center at the community center was top notch. We went to a house down the highway and tore out a deck that was in the creek, sorted and loaded the garbage.

{photos stolen from Ginette off facebook- thanks!}

In other news, I started working at the till at Home Depot, and it's a very nice change of pace from the online training I've been doing all week. Today I worked at the self checkout station and learned all about that. Also, my mom has just returned from her 10 day escapade to Utah. Hooray!

Love,

M