living in our shoes

Metamorph-ing

2011-08-09T09:36:00.000-07:00

In all fairness, it's a totally legit question even if it did come from the mind of a 3-year-old: How does something change from one very specific thing into something else, entirely? I've been pondering this very question lately as my 30-something self is so noticeably different than my 20-something self seemed to be, and I'm having to re-learn how to get along with... well... me. (Don't worry. I'm not suddenly getting deep and contemplative here, I'm taking this in a very literal direction so hang with me.)

As it turns out, 30-something Steph simply doesn't put up with gluten. Ugh. It even looks depressing reading it. But there it is... it's officially out there. "Hello, blog world: I'm over thirty and I can no longer handle my wheat." But it gets worse. In trying to sort out what it was that was waging war on my innermost being after each meal, I cut back to the bare basics to do a 2-week "detox" of sorts, and I used an established model that is rich in fresh produce and pure proteins. Before I knew it, I was actually volunteering to deprive myself of so much YUM in pursuit of protecting my tum.

I removed not only gluten but all grains in general (bye-bye rice, bread and beloved pasta), kissed all sugar goodbye (except for the very occasional indulgent dash, but only unrefined), sliced lots of my dairy intake (keeping only my cottage cheese, yogurt and skim milk), said Cheerio to cheese and chocolate (guess you could have figured as much from the low-dairy/no-sugar thing, but cheeses and chocolates were such a huge part of my life that they deserve their own shout-out on this list), and last but not least-- Corked the red wine. (I kept Coffee, of course -- She and I have a long, co-dependent history and it just wouldn't be right to let her go.)

Somewhere along the way, the 2-week detox turned into a bit of a lifestyle... and without any awareness of what I was doing, I have apparently climbed into my own self-made cocoon as a cheesy and chocolatey caterpillar, and have emerged on the other side as something entirely different-- a healthier eater. (Whaaaat?!) Truth be told: I've only been eating this way for a little over 2 months, so I'm no expert and still absolutely learning/modifying as I go. Another truth?... I feel better. I still don't know which of my little monsters was beating me up so much, but removing *it* has made me a new woman.

So I thought I would do a simply fun blog post to share some of the new foods that regularly tempt me and keep me from craving my old munchies. (I hope you like the new graphically-enhanced format I've tried... I just got a little overzealous I think, but what can I say? I'm a bit of a Photoshop fan.)

If you should ever find yourself in the middle of your own 'morph', perhaps these gorgeous glutenless go-to's will be useful:

"Hello... Is this thing on?..."

2011-08-05T17:27:00.000-07:00

Hi, I'm Stephanie. Once upon a time, in a land far, far away... I used to blog here. It's true! I would actually sit down at least once a day (or maybe more like once a week) with my trusty laptop and would update the world wide web with the latest happenings in the Poage family. Just walking through my daily life I would mentally file noteworthy events that might make for an interesting blog post, and would even photograph said events to add imagery to future witty narrations on the blog.

Ahh, those were the good ol' days... :)

I know I owe you thousands of words to cover all aspects of the past few months, so let's get caught up. Pictures should do it! Or better yet... Video. :)

Enjoy! I'll be back soon...

*Song Credit: my High School friend, Dylan Sneed "No Worse for the Wear"
Dylan's music is FAB-- Check him out on iTunes.

Returning from "Holiday"!

2011-01-14T12:43:00.000-08:00

It's officially my favorite time of the evening. The kids are in bed and my hero of a hubs is just finishing the last of the dishes. (Hand-washed, of course, since our British lifestyle isn't fitted with a dishwasher.) I've poured myself a cup of coffee and I'm sitting in the most comfortable chair we have with my laptop on my knees and my fingers ready to type.

Hello, sweet Blog. It's been a while.

Let's catch up by hitting the highlights... The Christmas Season in Oxford was absolutely beautiful. We enjoyed city festivals and Christmas markets, children's parties complete with gifts from Santa and (of course) face paintings, Christmas carol concerts, the traditional mulled wine and mince pies at parties, a Cookie exchange party, the Christmas Gala for the MBA students and several other Seasonal "get-togethers" among friends. To top it off, Oxford received the most snow it's seen in decades... What a treat!

In a brief window of good weather, our flight was cleared for take-off and our family hopped over to Holland a couple of days before Christmas. We got to spend a wonderful week in Enschede, Holland, with some of Collin's family in the childhood home of Collin's brother-in-law, Erroll, who is Dutch. Erroll's parents were incredible hosts! They spoiled us with their hospitality and the girls fell in love with them and their sweet Springer Spaniel named Jup. (Pronounced "Yoop.") We enjoyed walks to the market and bakery, strolling through the snow in the park and holding 2.5' icicles, sledding down the hillside, meeting "Sinterklaas" (Santa Claus) on Christmas Eve and having hot chocolate with him, shopping the village market, eating yummy things like Gormet, kibbling, kaassouffle, good coffee, good chocolate, some kind of amazing coated peanut things... and sharing it all in good company.

After spending some quality time in Holland (with a day in Germany for fun) we broke off as a family of four and took a trip to Barcelona. Just 24 hours before boarding the flight, we decided to be spontaneous and purchased tickets for the trip. We knew nothing but that we were going, and we would figure out the rest as we went. A completely fun thing to do!! ...borderline CRAZY to do such a thing with two kids in tow... but fun, nevertheless. Needless to say, it was a family bonding experience we will never forget. Barcelona is every bit as beautiful as you have heard. We absolutely recommend a visit.

And, since it's been a while, read on if you're curious about specific little updates on us as individuals. (I guess that coffee has kicked in... Click on the pictures to enlarge, if you would like.) :)

Doing well and really enjoying school. He's loving the diversity and fascinating conversations between classmates who hail from 50+ countries, and he's also very impressed with and energized by the lectures his professors give. (He's in his element.)
He's continuing to receive compliments on his leadership in the position of Consulting Club Chair within in the Oxford Business Network. He's supported by a great group of individuals whom he appointed as his team of officers at the beginning of term.
Became a member of the Oxford Union Society and has enjoyed the unique culture of the group (a debate society) which dates back to the 1820's. It's humorous, he says, and debaters receive heckles from the crowd which only adds to the spontaneity and intensity of the debates. A wide range of guests Collin has seen so far include those such as the President of Columbia, a US Senator and Tommy Hilfiger. (Tommy handed out nice canvas tote bags with leather handles when he came-- I was sure happy when Collin came home from the Union that night with a gift in-hand!) :)
Did well in Michaelmas Term and is geared up to begin classes for Hilary Term on Monday! (Michaelmas, Hilary and Trinity are the names of the 3 terms here at Oxford. No clue why, but I'm sure I could google it.)

Loving the adventures that accompany life abroad! I am still discovering new aspects of this small town every week and I love how Oxford unfolds and unveils new and interesting surprises the more I look into it.
Enjoying the Monday Mums group I attend weekly at St. Andrews Church and have found it to be one of my very favorite things about this entire experience. The women there are lovely and their faith encourages me as a Mom and as a believer.
Just recently, a friend of mine and I decided to do a little "Mom trade-off" with our girls, so she will take Avery and Julia once a week and I'll have her daughter, Annie, on alternate weeks! That way the girls get to play together and we get a few hours of hands-free time during the week. (Win, win!)
I am working on getting the girls registered for preschool now/primary school for Avery in the Fall, and preschool registration obstacles HERE are every bit as challenging as they are in the States. Finding a good school, fighting your way up the wait list while praying someone moves to open up a spot and seriously considering bribing the Director are all common threads. (I'm hopeful about one or two preschools at the moment, and praying God works my girls into a spot! They need it as much as I do.)
For fun, I am going to try my hand at gardening. I purchased a variety of bulbs at the flower shop around the corner and I am keeping an eye out for a place to buy seeds for herbs and vegetables. Excited to get planting. Maybe by Spring we'll have some color on our window sill, and by Summer, perhaps, some fresh veggies!

Avery is 4 years and 3 months old, now.
Loving life in Oxford, but still asks about Dallas on a regular basis.
Enjoys attending the Creche (childcare) at St. Andrews Church while I go to the Monday Mums Bible Study, and she particularly enjoys her Tuesday afternoon ballet class.
She is really getting the hang of her new scooter she got for Christmas and loves to take it for a spin any chance she gets.
She still enjoys art and music and is really blossoming in both. She also loves to cook and helps in the kitchen whenever she's allowed. (However, small kitchen with a hot stove makes Mom a worry-wart, so I usually just let her stir!)
She's interested in reading, so we're working on that a little at home. Nothing hugely regimented-- I'm just trying to take advantage of her curiosity while it's here! Last night she was sounding out the letters to "H-i-d-d-e-n V-a-l-l-e-y" on the Ranch bottle. (Thanks to our friends and family for recently replenishing our supply!) Today she sounded out the letters on my rain boots. I think she's enjoying the new realization that there are letters everywhere and they actually mean something. (How will Collin & I talk about them IN FRONT of them when they can spell?!) :)
Encouragement is definitely one of her Spiritual Gifts. She is such a blessing in our lives.

Julia is 2 years and 9 months old now.
Loves pretending and roll-playing with anything and everything she gets her hands on: Dolls, markers, forks, spoons, leaves... Everything is suddenly personified, and usually looking for it's Mom. (Is my 2-year-old afraid I'm going to lose her?)
Julia also enjoys the Creche and St. Andrews on Mondays and the fantastic Tuesday afternoon ballet class. She is the youngest member of the ballet class, but keeps up with the group very well.
She has a spunky spirit combined with a very tender heart, and she is definitely a snuggler! Julia brings us to fits of laughter on a regular basis and there are often times when I'll cross the room just to give her a squeeze because she's being so stinkin' cute. (She's at that age, I guess.) She is a delight to our hearts.
A recent milestone for Julia was learning to spell her name (she used to say it "L-A-R-G Julia", for some reason, but now she will usually say, "J-U-L-I-A Julia" when asked)
She is really absorbing the British accent and it's too cute.

We are all a little amazed at how quickly the time is flying, and there isn't a day that goes by that we don't count our blessings. God has so faithfully paved the path ahead of us, and as we enter into a new term we look forward to the ways He will continue to do so as we continue to seek Him in all we do.

Pictures of an Oxford December, a Holland Christmas and a Barcelona New Year to come!
Hugs and Happy 2011!

Ourselves as Elves! :)

2010-12-14T07:42:00.000-08:00

Do these ever get old??... Maybe so, but not today!! :)

Let it snow!

2010-12-13T17:18:00.001-08:00

Waking up to white (November 30th) and making sure all her stuffed animals were aware of the overnight change!

Where's Waldo?... :)

Come again soon, snow!

Suddenly Super

2010-12-12T04:05:00.000-08:00

Ok, I'll admit-- Living in this splendid city of scholars, inventors and ...well, yes... Nobel Peace Prize winners is thrilling in ways I can't describe. It's hilarious how it actually becomes mundane and routine to pass inscriptions on old stone walls marking such places as the spot where "Boyle's Law" was discovered, or to meet new friends who are several years younger than I am but have already managed to live in an assortment of countries while speaking a handful of languages (fluently!) and just sold their "first start-up company" for a bazillion dollars. (They say these things to you as if they're talking about where they went to high school or what they ate for dinner last night-- just like "Oh, yeah... hasn't everyone done that?" but laced with humility and absent of any judgment. A lovable breed of awe-inspiring, SuperHero-ish, brilliant people. I'm not certain they're actually human, but we'll assume so for now.)

So, it's wonderful. Truly, it is.

Still, sooner or later this machine gun assault-of-the-senses (how everyone and everything around me is fascinating) starts to make one like myself feel a little less-than-extraordinary.

Do I speak another language? Texas redneck? Downtown-Dallas Ebonics? Cuz, that there's about all I got, yo.
Have I invented anything? I *do* have a detailed sketch of a cutting-edge trash bag design that has potential. I'm looking into trashy patents.
Have I started-up any companies? No, but I did have a rockin' business plan for giving away litters upon litters of my cat's kittens on the doorsteps of popular grocery stores when I was a kid. We even gave away a free can of cat food just to seal the deal. Now that's business mindedness!
Any contribution to the arts? Hmm... that sketch pad that I mentioned buying a few posts ago, with hopes of gleefully sipping tea while sketching from the back garden?... It was recently discovered and attacked by two pair of pudgy hands with some nearly-dry markers, Disney Princess stickers and a hybrid of other objects held on by tacky glue-sticks. So, no.

Therefore, content to just be among the amazing even if my own life stories don't inspire awe from my peers, I carried on until the events of last night caused me to recognize something about myself. It was 3:23am and I was in a very deep sleep. From out of nowhere, down the hall, behind two semi-closed doors and from beneath a down comforter, I heard my youngest in her quietest voice utter the words, "I need to go potty." **BOY** you should have SEEN ME MOVE!! In less than 2.73 seconds, I had jolted out of my bed, run down the hall, scooped her up, maneuvered 2 awkward steps on our narrow Euro-staircase (with her on my hip, bleary-eyed from her sudden extraction from the warmth of her bed) ran to the toilet, lowered the training seat and had that babygirl sitting on the potty before you could say "BLAMMO!!" Whew! (Poor Julia was probably still in a REM cycle.)

Now... if you've ever changed wet sheets in the middle of the night, or had to search for the clean ones to replace them, or had to line-dry a whole bed set the next day... you might understand my motivation to get her where she needed to be to do what she needed to do! When you're "Mom-of-two-year-old," it's an all-out war against bed-wetting and this Mama doesn't back off the line... Especially not at 3:23am when the other team comes with all its might!

Score one for Mom. I was proud. And I had actually discovered something brilliant about myself in the process: I have acute-middle-of-the-night-hearing and cat-like reflexes-- even from a comatose sleep! (Hey-- when you're living as a commoner in a world of "Supers," you have to claim the victories as they come, no matter how small they may seem.) So, I put my freshly emptied 2-year-old back in her cozy bed, walked back to my room and laid my head down with a smile on my face.

Who knew? I am an Oxford Super, after all.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2010-12-03T16:01:00.000-08:00

Actually, living in the UK means that it has looked a lot like Christmas since November 1st and I'm just now getting my blog up to speed!

Ahhhh, Christmas. I must admit, it's never lost its magic for me. I love the most wonderful time of the year and all the festive traditions that accompany it. I love them so much, in fact, that I took my unassuming family on a wild Santa chase in mid-November. Now, I had no idea what this experience would actually be like since I had only read about it in a magazine advert. (That's what they call "ads" over here and I've adopted the word on an occasional basis.) The article showed a beautifully dressed Santa sitting near a quaint fire beneath a fantastic Christmas tree adorned with all the finest golden treasures. His bifocals sat just perfectly on his nose and his over-sized red arm chair looked just comfy enough to sit all winter. I fell victim to the visual appeal, and I was ready to read on about when and where I could go and meet Santa. The ad spoke of "Santa's Grotto" and meeting his reindeer, and went on to say that children would get to sit and listen to a Christmas story read by Father Christmas -himself- while sitting by the fire. It made mention that parents would enjoy hot apple cider and mince pies, and that each child would take home a sapling Christmas tree and a special gift from Santa. The day would also include free balloon animals, face painting and special characters on stilts! To top it all off, the real and original Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car was to be Santa's coach and would remain on display for the rest of the day. **DONE** It was settled: We were going.

As real life has a way of doing, the day played out a little differently than the beautiful images the words of the ad had painted in my mind: Collin had a morning meeting with his team and rushed to be home by noon so that we could load up in the stroller and walk 25 minutes to the city center to catch the correct bus departing at 12:45 that would take us to Frilford, England. One-fourth of the way to the bus stop, I realized our tickets were still laying on the bed. (Way to go, Steph.) The girls and I continue on to try and catch the bus while Collin runs back home to grab the tickets. About 10 more paces down the road and I realized that I had ALSO forgotten our camera! Collin was already out of sight on his way home so I search my purse for my cell phone. Nope- it's home as well. "Maybe he'll see them there and grab them?" NOPE. Men on a mission have tunnel vision. But, he DID get the tickets and we DID make it to the bus stop in time. So off we go... on the bus... heading in the direction of Millets Farm in Frilford.

An hour later, the bus dropped us off and drove away. We surveyed our surroundings: Farmland... farmland... a Shell petrol station... more farmland. Good thing we asked the driver how we get to Millets Farm from where he was dropping us! He directed us on a 20 minute walk, and we followed his instructions. We had a sidewalk for most of the way, but there was the occasional spot when I had to hold branches back for Collin to get by with the stroller. ONLY GOD KNOWS where in the world we were, but we did finally find sweet Millets Farm and the Frosts Garden Centre store that promised to introduce us to Santa. We had arrived, and we undoubtedly should have won the prize for "best effort" as we saw NO other pedestrian patrons! (...and now we know why...)

Hours of travel and a bit of a lackluster Santa experience compared to what I thought we would get based upon the words in the ad, but in general it was a fun family afternoon. Next time maybe we'll rent a car... Or maybe we'll just make a family pact not to chase after Santa in mid-November. There's plenty of time to hunt him down and stand in long lines in December.

On the bus and excited to go on our Santa adventure! Collin liked this particular brand of yield sign, too, so he took a picture.

We probably should have turned back when we saw the tractor signs. Just call us determined.

We made it! Posing with the "real and original" Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car from the 1968 movie. It was BIG.

Ohh, these sweet elderly people must have made it across the road thanks to the signs. (Either that, or they traveled to this remote destination and never found their way back to the mainland!)

Meeting reindeer an other magical, mechanical animals.

The girls talking with "Silly Billy" the Elf. (I don't know, either.)

Finally getting to go inside to see Santa. (That's how I felt about it all, too, Jules... Santa's beard may have been short, but his story was looooong.)

Happy with our "Charlie Brown" tree and our gifts from Santa!

Getting ready to taste the cafe's specialty cake: Lavender Orange. Now this was one thing that DID live up to expectations... It. Was. Amazing.

The walk back to the bus stop. A beautiful ending to the day.

Americans UNITE! :)

2010-11-27T15:18:00.000-08:00

What a FANTASTIC time we had at the Potluck Thanksgiving dinner that was volunteer-organized by American friends of ours, Vanessa and Rob Garey. When you think "potluck," you don't usually imagine something like this. It was fantastic. We truly felt like we had experienced Thanksgiving. REAL Thanksgiving. Beautiful, classy, yummy, cozy Thanksgiving. And to share the experience with so many other new friends -Americans and other nationalities- made it all the more blessed.

(Below: Julia fell asleep on the ride over, but Avery was ready to mingle!)

(Seriously... What IS it about watching guys carve a turkey that just warms your heart? This feels like home.)

The evening wrapped up with beanbag chairs and blankets on the ground while they played Home Alone on the big screen and passed out hot chocolate and coffee. Perfect. If the girls hadn't been scared by the movie, we would have stayed until the last credits rolled. I *heart* Home Alone, but I do understand the scary aspects of how it must look to a 4-year-old, too. I found myself trailing off when I tried to comfort Avery by explaining: "Oh, honey, it's not scary! He's just home by himself because his parents flew off without him... And now there are some guys who... want to get inside his house... Hmmm... Wanna play with Mommy's earrings?" Throw in a taranchula spider and a talking basement furnace and you've got a kid's Christmas horror show. She'll grow an appreciation for it someday-- it's a modern classic!

(Below: Our amazing Hosts, The Gareys. Don't mind the mustache, it's "Movember.")

It's not the menu, but the memories that count. :)

2010-11-25T17:33:00.000-08:00

Today was Thanksgiving Day, but I must admit it looked a little ordinary from our vantage point. Collin had a full schedule today, so we decided to observe our family Thanksgiving this weekend. But I couldn't just let the day pass without acknowledging that it was THE Thanksgiving Day! ...and I hadn't planned any special Thanksgiving-y things ahead of time, so I knew I'd be shooting from the hip... Thankfully, we found a live-feed of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade online, so we spent our afternoon glued to the computer screen! Our "feast" was pretty poor... Come to think of it, I didn't even have a vegetable on the plate! Hopefully the girls will get their fill of the good stuff when we have a proper Thanksgiving meal in a few days. Our ordinary day was peppered with several fun moments, but tears did find me a time or two. However, every longing for home was soothed in a sweet Skype conversation with my family as they had just finished their feast. It did such good things for my heart to see their sweet faces-- I felt, in some strange way, like I was right there with them. No turkey and dressing and not a single bite of pumpkin pie, but at the end of the day I felt absolutely full of all good things.

Happy Thanksgiving.
Love, hugs & extra gravy to all...

(Avery & I making a Pumpkin Pie in the days leading up to Turkey Day! Please disregard our tiny kitchen in the background.) :)

Thanksgiving Abroad!

2010-11-15T16:19:00.000-08:00

(Thanksgiving at our house, November '08. Amazingly, just looking at these pictures of Thanksgiving in our own home helps soothe the Seasonal homesickness in several ways... I'll try not to think about how every precious thing on this table-- table and chairs included-- are all boxed up in dark cold storage this Thanksgiving. *mock heaving sobs*)

All across America, our friends and family are setting their plans and their dining room tables in preparation for a wonderfully short work week and a cozy 5-day Holiday weekend. They'll enjoy a feast of all things wonderful. It may vary from house to house, but traditionally it's turkey and dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, fresh hot rolls and/or cornbread, pecan and/or pumpkin pie and several other mouthwatering morsels. Our American friends will also partake in the age-old Thanksgiving Day tradition of gathering warmly by the living room fire to gaze upon the 42" plasma screen TV to watch college football in high definition. (Ok, so the high def aspect is relatively new... but the rest of the tradition is respected and observed by so many that one would think it is nearly as old as America, herself.) And then, at the strike of midnight, the Christmas season begins! It's simply lovely. A beautiful segue to the most wonderful time of the year. Sigh... Thanksgiving. How we'll miss you.

(Thanksgiving at our "new" house, November of '10. We are SO thankful to have been sent some pictures of family and some Thanksgiving things in the mail! Makes the season a little more festive, for sure!)

November 25th here in England will look quite different for us, and understandably so. It's a usual Thursday for me and the girls. Collin has a full schedule of class, study groups and meetings lasting from sunrise to sunset and probably well beyond. We will be longing for a true Thanksgiving on that day, and I'm tempted to ask my family if they would be willing to set the laptop in the corner of the room for me to "skype in," but I ultimately think it would be more depressing to look but not taste. (If you had ever tasted my Mom's Thanksgiving dinner, you'd understand my angst. It's fantastic.) So, Thursday will be a bit of a let-down but we are looking forward to Saturday the 27th when we'll attend a Thanksgiving Potluck dinner for our group of expatriates and friends! That will be a treat, assuming we can arrange a babysitter! And even as wonderful as it will be to celebrate here with fellow Americans and others, I'm afraid it will be no substitution for the real thing: There truly is no place like home for the holidays.

So, my sweet and wonderful American friends and family... PLEASE enjoy. Enjoy enough for all of us. And when you're finished with the feast of fabulously-flavored fare and fourty square inches of football, grab a quick nap so you can be sure to bring your "A game" at Wal-Mart on Black Friday! It's the American way and I love it!

From all of us here in Merry Olde England, (including Pilly Hill, the Daddy, the Turkey, Ernia and Chicken...) we wish you a very happy day of giving thanks. And we, too, will be counting our blessings with a grateful heart for all that God has done.

Remember, remember the 5th of November!

2010-11-10T10:36:00.000-08:00

November 5th marks the anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot, a conspiracy to blow up the English Parliament and King James I in 1605. So, with treason, gunpowder and a failed murder plot, celebration is definitely the first thing that comes to mind, right? ;)

This was our first time to experience Guy Fawkes Night and even though we stayed right here at home instead of attempting to brave the rain and the crowds elsewhere, we had a blast. Collin was able to be home for dinner which was such a treat for us! (He is half-way through his first term and things are getting intense! Seeing him at all these days is rare, but having him home by 6pm was a Guy Fawkes Night miracle.) :) In our attempt to do something very "British" on this particular holiday, I did a Shepherd's Pie for dinner along with salad and apple cider. We made s'mores for dessert (more "bonfirey" than British) and the girls LOVED them. We did have to get a little creative with the s'mores, though, as I wasn't ever able to find marshmallows here in Oxford. I substituted marshmallow creme and it tasted great. I also used "biscuits" instead of graham crackers because biscuits are delicious. With a pretty steady rainfall outside and no marshmallows to roast, we just popped them in the microwave. They turned out great.

Between dinner and dessert, we got to watch a fireworks display from the girls' bedroom window! It was honestly one of my favorite "mental snapshot" moments ever. All four of us were on Avery's bed in the dark with the window open and a brilliant fireworks display outside. It was chilly with the window open, so we pulled blankets around us and snuggled down to watch the show and our girls' faces light up with each big boom. It was perfect. I wanted to find the pause button of life and just breathe that moment in for a while. (Of course our "home college," Green Templeton, didn't start their show until 10:30pm after the girls were asleep. It was SUPER close to our house and it was LOUD. It literally sounded like a gunfight in the street but the girls slept right through it. (Whew!) ...Sure, they wake up at the first glimpse of sunlight but THAT they sleep through... Happy Guy Fawkes Night, 2010!

(Above: Pictured here is the corner of our rooftop with the Green Templeton College Fireworks display in the background... Just to show there was no exaggeration in how near these things were!) :)

(Above: So glad we got an actual snapshot of my favorite "mental snapshot" moment that evening. Below: You just can't beat a night that ends with something this good.)

Halloween!

2010-11-08T15:58:00.000-08:00

It really offers perspective to experience such a familiar holiday in a different culture.

Pumpkins here are relatively small and not overwhelmingly available. The sweet British lady looking at them alongside me was most likely choosing one to bake, eat and enjoy while I carefully selected one that looked best to hack-up with a serrated knife and light ablaze! Costumes were hard to find as well. (They call it "fancy dress" here instead of costume.) Even on amazon.co.uk while online shopping for the kids, I was only able to find a handful of costume options, and most were very grim. "Why not just buy a costume at the store" you ask?... Because there weren't any. With the exception of maybe one or two supermarkets, the retail world of Oxford was seemingly completely unaware of Halloween. THAT alone was enough to spook this American! I had no idea I was so used to the over-commercialization of Oct. 31st! I honestly can't walk through somewhere as simple as a gas station in Texas this time of year without emerging on the other side plastered with bats and cobwebs and having been rudely surprised and laughed-at by at least one mechanical character. (Preferably a skeleton wearing a top hat.) It's just how it's done! And for one such as myself who never keeps a running calendar --let's be honest-- it's how I know what part of the year we're in.

Although it was quite a different experience here, our children still wanted to dress up and trick-or-treat, of course, so we did our best to piece together the requested costumes: "SweetPea Beauty" and "Nemo." I'll spare you the details of how I worked until the last minute with blue shiny paper and masking tape to make Julia's costume, but somehow it all worked out! THANK YOU to the Warrens for hosting us in their home for a pre-trick-or-treat dinner party! So much fun! And thanks, also, to the precious (albeit small) group of lovely British neighbors on Southmoor Street who gave us a glimpse of an American-style Halloween right here in Oxford. Halloween success in the UK! :)

Nature and Science

2010-11-02T04:51:00.000-07:00

After our Blenheim Palace excursion, I took one day of rest and then I was ready for another adventure. (I'm not sure what got into me. I'm usually such a hermit!) I have noticed that without formulating a "plan" the night before, the following morning will quickly blend into afternoon and evening before we've done anything noteworthy or productive. So, in my determination NOT to let a perfectly good Friday go to waste, I decided on Thursday night that we would get up Friday morning and walk to the Science Oxford Live Discovery Zone to explore, learn and play.

Without any real agenda, we had the freedom to take a slight detour on the way and walk through the grounds surrounding one of the most beautiful colleges here in Oxford called Christ Church. The girls got out of the stroller to run their energy out. They are loving the Fall leaves here! We saw cows grazing in distant pastures and we quacked at friendly ducks who walked up to us when we stopped along the river to watch some people punting. Days like this remind me of why I am how I am and why I tend to resist "scheduling" myself or committing to various meetings during the week. It's because I actually love having nowhere to be so that I can have the freedom to do just what we did... Enjoy our time.

After getting our fill of natural beauty (can you ever really "get your fill" of such a thing?) we turned our three-wheels back towards High Street and headed across the Isis (Thames River) towards Science Oxford Live to check out the Kids Discovery Zone. What a great way to spend an afternoon. The girls really enjoyed it. (Especially the shadow wall, which was set up for someone to strike a pose in front of the wall, wait for a flash and then step away from the wall to reveal your frozen shadow! The shadow faded in about 15 seconds and gave someone else a turn to make a shadow print. It was actually very cool. I thought I might never get them out of that darkroom.) Fun was had by all, and ...of course... they wanted souvenirs. We brought home a baby dinosaur that "hatches" out of its egg if you add water and a package of glow-in-the-dark stars for their ceiling. Both toys are a hit! Fun day.

We were all absolutely and completely exhausted once we arrived back home. (Using the Google Maps Pedometer, I calculated 5.8 miles we (I!) walked that day, and that doesn't count chasing the kids around the Discovery Zone with my camera! ...let's call it an even 6 miles and pretend that counteracts the Cadbury chocolate I ate that night. I think I earned it.) :)

(Below: Which distortion do you think I like best?) :)

Cute...

(Below: A few pictures snapped on our walk back home. Oxford is beautiful. These show nothing but moss growing on a bridge railing and a bunch of boats in a river, but it's all just beautiful somehow.)

A Trip to Blenheim Palace!

2010-10-30T14:38:00.000-07:00

My two little princesses got to visit a REAL palace for the first time in their lives! They were so excited to go experience it all, and I must say it's pretty surreal to live only 20-minutes (by bus) from such an extraordinary place --The birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. It's fabulous.

Now, allow me to be transparent and vulnerable for a second... If I were being truly honest with myself I would have to admit that I do tend to be "that Mom" who tries to be fully prepared for a day's journey. I think I inherited it from my own Mother. You know, that Mom whose bag is the bottomless pit of life-saving gadgets and sometimes even an emergency costume closet... That's who I try to be. So, I packed my bag the night before and off we went in the morning! Extra change of clothes, check! Snacks for the kids (both sweet and salty, just to suit their mood), check! Rain gear, check! Gloves, check! Kleenex, band-aids and hand sanitizer, check! Camera... CAMERA???... Fail. You read that right, although it's not exactly accurate. I did bring a camera, but I just didn't bring our nicest one. For some reason I thought it would be a hassle to keep up with the "big" camera, but when has that ever really mattered when you come home with those perfect pictures?! (What was I thinking?... Leave the extra rain jacket, TAKE the nice camera! Sigh...)

But even if I don't have the memories perfectly preserved through the mastery of my lovely Canon EOS Rebel T1i (camera names should never be longer than palace names), it was the perfect way to spend a day. And with the exception of getting a little turned around (okay, hopelessly LOST) inside the hedgerow maze, we had a FANTASTIC time! We let the kids run out some energy on the palace grounds, had lunch in the gardens, climbed some trees that look like something built for a movie set, found our way through a maze with the help of some kind strangers and ended the day with a good face painting. What's not to love? We will be going back at Christmastime to see the palace decorated for the season and to ride the train. For that trip I will have my nicer camera. (I may forget the children or something, but by golly I'll have that camera!!) :)

Avery and Archer... Such a GQ little man!

Avery and Ellie Claire - Buddies!

Such a pretty place to sit and have some lunch!

...then, onto the Pleasure Gardens where the children's activities were planned...

Avery looks hesitant to enter the hedgerow maze. (If we had it to do over again, we wouldn't have attempted it with our strollers!)

Whew! We're out of the maze, of which only 1/8 is pictured above. It was a BEAST! On to face painting!...

...and more tree exploring...

(Below: Sleepy/cranky kiddos after a long day of fun. Didn't even make it home before they were sacked-out! That's kid-speak for "it was a good day.")

Getting "creative" in coming up with activities!

2010-10-28T13:39:00.000-07:00

Thanks, Mom, for the great idea! The girls loved "painting on the fence." Too bad it was COLD and a little bit wet outside or I think they would still be out there painting away! (I apologize for the "halo" look in some of these pictures. Seems there were fingerprints on the lens. A common problem with kiddos who like to play with the camera. But at least it was our little camera- they know better than to touch the DSLR! :) And also remember that you can click on any image to enlarge it if you want to.)

Meeting Maggie

2010-10-26T01:23:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful surprise last week when I looked out and saw that a DOG was happily running around in our garden with an apple in her mouth, wanting someone to play with her.

The college gardeners come by to maintain our grounds once every week or so, and Maggie belongs to one of our gardeners. They come in through the back gate, so we might have missed her had we not happened to look out at the moment we did! We became fast friends... Come back and play whenever you like, Maggie.

With sweet memories of our precious Howitzer "Howie" Poage
July 2005 - September 2010

"Okay, girls... Get in closer to the T-Rex and smiiiiile!"

2010-10-22T15:01:00.000-07:00

**Disclaimer: Yes, I know this particular dino is not a T-Rex, but the one behind him is! :)

Most mornings go according to plan: Bright-eyed kids by, or before, 7am (Lord, help me), breakfast, get dressed & ready to get out, GO somewhere. This morning, however, the girls and I stayed in our jammies until after 10:30am! :) What to do on the afternoon of a cold day that got off track in the morning? Hit up the free museums!

The girls are at the perfect age for this because they are VERY into dinosaurs right now. I was surprised at how well it kept their attention! The displays were incredible... even from my perspective as a "usually-not-so-crazy-about-museums" kind of girl. I really enjoyed it. (Maybe it's just because I'M the parent now and I have full control over how quickly we go through the exhibits!) :) Of course, we stopped at the gift shop on the way out to pick up a souvenir for each girl. I used to LOVE souvenirs... best part of the trip as a little kid! But, when you're living in the "trip," souvenirs are not a common thing. The girls were due for a little something. They had about as much fun shopping for the souvenirs as they did with the dinosaur bones!

So, the day was saved! Thanks, free museums, for sending us back on our way a little more educated and a lot more exhausted. Bedtime routine made easy. :) ...Now, what to do tomorrow?

Below: Avery wanted to take a picture of me and she asked me to point at the sky... Didn't really want to point at the sky, but I now have a new sympathy for my children when I ask them to do silly things for the camera!

Moving out of dinosaurs and into artifacts...

Below: Avery posing with the Egyptian Mummy and giving us her best "Mummy face"

Running around outside the museum...

Ahhh, England...

2010-10-21T02:28:00.000-07:00

If I come back looking like this, will you all still be friends with me? :)

Ah, who am I kidding... My body has NO idea how to get this skinny...

Buggy Cam! :)

2010-10-20T15:27:00.001-07:00

Something occurred to me today on the walk back home from the city center: "Why not video this walk so that my friends and family back home can get a glimpse of our everyday lives here?" :)

This is one for the Grandparents! (and for those who don't easily get motion-sickness as it does get bumpy from time to time!) Please forgive the terribly shaky footage. I literally just held the camera between the hands I had on the back of the stroller, or "buggy" as they call them here. (Hence the title of "buggy cam.") It's a lengthy video, but the actual walk is still longer. I cut out some things! :) Just be warned that it's not the most exciting video, but it is true to life. If you're in a hurry, skip to the walk through the market and the scene at the very end when I show the stroller.

AND --a disclaimer that Collin asked to add-- Today was trash and recycle day, but they hadn't yet come to pick up the garbage from the front. Our house doesn't usually have piles of rubbish greeting us on our arrival home. :)

Come and take a walk with us... Enjoy! :)

Why I love Wednesdays in Oxford...

2010-10-20T13:56:00.000-07:00

Wednesdays are Farmer's Market days... You can load up on fresh produce for half the price of what you would pay at the grocery store! ...And that makes for one happy Steph! I made bruschetta today from produce I still had from last week, and it tasted gooo-ood. This week, the sky's the limit. I even bought parsnips! Those huge green apples are going to be cored & filled with butter, cinnamon & sugar and then I'll bake them and serve them with vanilla ice cream for the perfect Fall dessert. The potatoes and leeks will make a yummy soup... The tomatoes, peppers, lemons and shallots will probably find their way into some sort of fajita business... Zucchini because it looked good and I'm an unrealistic optimist about what my kids will eat... Pears, strawberries and grapes won't last 2 days around here with my two fruit-eaters... and a baguette because, well, do you ever need a reason for a baguette?

Finally... We found a pumpkin today! We've been searching for a couple of days now and the stores we had seen selling them were sold out the past few times we tried. But today was our lucky day! Nevermind that it cost us 2 pound 50, which is just under 5 US Dollars. I probably would have paid double that just to have a pumpkin for my sweet girls who have been asking so nicely for one. Welcome to our house, pumpkin! (Cute sidenote: Tonight Avery asked if we could carve the pumpkin into a "lantern." Pretty clever, Aves!! Jack-o-lantern!.. Sometimes I forget that they're always listening and absorbing everything we say, whether or not they really understand. Pretty convicting.)

Creepy-crawly craft time with two pretty pumpkins

2010-10-20T12:49:00.000-07:00

Celebrating Halloween "American Style!" (I don't think they do the innocent/commercialized version of Halloween over here that we do back home... it's all pretty dark looking here.) Thanks to a package sent by a sweet friend, we all got to have a little fun decorating pumpkins and making creepy-crawly things out of fun-colored pipe cleaners! Great way to spend an afternoon.

On display for all to see... :)

...And more seasonal window fun...

Matriculation Day!

2010-10-16T16:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday. Was. Incredibly fun.

Just getting to mill around among the group of students wearing their sub-fusc cloaks and carrying their mortar board hats was a blast. There was excitement in the air and a feeling of celebration permeated the crowd. The highlight was getting to watch Collin as he participated in a tradition of "Croquet & Pimm's" on the lawn. Suddenly, he was British. :) He just looked British! They all did! And he looked smart and handsome and just plain wonderful. What a fun day. Definitely one that as a family, we will never forget.

Above left: Julia tries to blend in with the MBAs - Hands in her pockets, leg out... So cute. Above right: Avery and Julia with our friend Ellie Claire, and with Burbank (the College "mascot") in the background.

Above: Collin standing with the President of his College Below: The kiddos try to keep themselves busy after they grow weary of watching "all the Daddies" as Avery kept saying...

As an American I tend to recognize this attire as a graduation costume, but it's funny how I never stopped to wonder why we wear that to graduate! I, like perhaps some of you, just went along with it and didn't question. It never occurred to me that our "cap and gown" of the 21st Century in North America is really a shadow of how centuries of scholars have dressed in the past. (Who knew?... And this entire outfit --the tuxedo, bow tie, cloak, cap-- is what Collin will wear EVERY time he takes an exam here. AND each exam for anyone studying anything at Oxford University is given at the Examination Schools, which is the building pictured to the right below. Intimidating!)

Croquet & Pimm's!

Avery & Julia having hot chocolate inside the lounge, where we sought shelter when the rain came! The picture of me and Collin below was made by Avery! She's getting pretty great at making pictures.

A walk through Port Meadow

2010-10-15T14:22:00.000-07:00

Some of you may have already seen these on Facebook, but they're worth posting here, too!

Port Meadow is just a few blocks Northeast of our house. It is beautiful, and sometimes there is free-range livestock roaming about. The other day we went back to Port Meadow with some of our neighbors for a stroll and found ourselves within arms' reach of wild livestock. It was, indeed, WILD. I'll admit I had the occasional mental "flash-forwards" while watching Avery run down the path and imagined the terrible event in which her playful giggles caused some kind of massive stampede and she, Julia, and our neighbor-friend, Ellie Claire, became cow roadkill... But other than that, it was lovely. :) It is nice to live in such close proximity to natural beauty.

...and these next shots were taken by our friend, Bess, when we walked with them through the meadow on a different day...

Ellie Claire and Avery try to intimidate the cow by staring it down

Ellie Claire says, (and I quote her Mom, Bess) "That's right! Keep on moving, cow..." :)

Ellie Claire's little brother, Archer, who deserved to be pictured here too! :)

One Month!

2010-10-15T05:11:00.000-07:00

We survived our first month as expatriates!

I can't believe it's been a month already... the time is really flying by. In our short month here, we've already moved once (ha!) from our temporary "short let" to our college-owned house which we're still settling into little by little. It's as incredibly wonderful as a 200-year-old house can be, and we're thrilled to be living here in this location. We've met some fantastic people and have made wonderful friends.

Collin has begun his course (that's how they say it here, rather than "classes") and is loving every minute of it all. He was elected among his peers to Chair the Management Consulting Club at Oxford and he has several direct responsibilities added to him because of that. But that's exactly how he loves to live-- BUSILY! :) He's eagerly calculating a vision for the group and is hoping to have his committee of officers appointed soon so that he can have some relief and so that the group can continue to build energy and momentum for the year. We're so proud of him, and it's honestly a ton of fun for me to get to watch him do this all over again. (For those who didn't know us when we dated in college, Collin was elected twice to be the President of his class at Texas A&M his junior and senior years. So many aspects of this are a complete flashback for me and it's fun to get to watch him doing this again.) He is an effortless leader, and it's refreshing to see him have the opportunity to exercise that ability again --nearly a decade later. He's thoroughly enjoying seeing new face after face, learning about different lives and hearing different stories. We are both enjoying the thrill of seeing the world with new eyes.

Tomorrow Collin will Matriculate and I cannot WAIT to take pictures of that! (Family is not invited to the actual ceremony because the hall is too small to hold everyone, but I'll snap some pictures on the grounds before they march away.) He and his classmates will dress in full sub-fusc and will march through the city and into the Examination Schools (a building where all exams for anyone attending Oxford University are taken) for the Matriculation ceremony. Matriculation is not something I'm familiar with being from the States, but even here in the UK it is done several different ways at different universities. The mandatory sub-fusc dress is an Oxford thing and is by no means "normal." :) (But then again I would venture to guess that most traditions at a University founded in the 11th century may look strange to us as 21st century beings!) At any rate, OUR Collin gets to dress up like Harry Potter in a cloak with a white bow-tie and a mortarboard hat tomorrow and gets to participate in a ceremony that initiates him into a Brotherhood with the likes of Knights and Prime Ministers, Scholars and Presidents, world-renown inventors and entrepreneurs, scientific pioneers and Nobel Prize winners. Nerdy white bow-tie or not -- any way you slice it, that's pretty cool.

The girls and I are SO very happily "dwelling in the land and cultivating faithfulness." :) We've found several of our neighbors have turned out to be sweet friends and we're continuing to meet new people daily! We're finding our new normal and cooking-up a routine. I'm loving that there are so many different opportunities for stay-home Moms with young children here. Several drop-in playgroups, kids classes, Mums groups, etc. We don't spend much time at home since we have such a small amount of toys here, but it's really good for us to get out and be immersed in this new world of ours. Everyday it seems we discover a new store, cafe or park... Oxford is SMALL compared to most cities in the UK, but it's like the tiny town that seems to grow as you discover it! They have everything you could want or need. It is beautiful and lovely in every way and we are truly enjoying life here.

Avery has made several new friends and is currently on a wait list for school. If she is offered a spot, we will TAKE it! :) The government will pay for her to go to school for a 1/2 day, 5 days a week. For a 4-year-old, you can't beat that! (I won't tell you how much we were paying for preschool in Dallas!) She occasionally says things with a tiny British inflection- not the accent, but just the same inflection. Although, when she pretend-talks for her lego people, they use a British accent... so that's funny to watch. Occasionally I'll read their bedtime books with my best British sound. Avery isn't a fan of that. She usually gripes and asks me to use my "nice voice" and not to "talk like Oxford, England." Julia, however... finds it hilarious.

Jules loves it here. She enjoys the garden (backyard) and having a fenced-in grassy area to run her legs and explore. She's thrilled having stairs in the house and likes that Avery usually lets her sit in the front seat of the stroller on our daily adventures. She is actually ...drumroll, please... OFFICIALLY out of diapers!! (Or "nappies" as they call them here.) Potty training in a foreign country has been/still is a beast, and I'm sure she'll still have the occasional accident but for the most part- we're done! And Julia also uses an "Oxford" voice when she pretends with her toys, but it sounds absolutely nothing like a British accent, whatsoever... Still hilarious.

As for me: I'm happy. I'm learning so much about myself just by living in a different culture. I love meeting people who don't look like me, talk like me, think like me, act like me... and allowing those friendships to enrich my life while I take every opportunity to pour myself into those individuals, as well. I've already had several "Aha!" mind-expanding moments, or ideas that seem to be original, and it feels like I am somehow taking root in creativity-rich soil or something. Just looking out our kitchen window makes me want to paint. I bought a sketch pad and some soft graphite pencils... Can't wait to get a chance to use those. I haven't sketched since College.

God is good and we are blessed. Thank you all at home for covering us in prayers. We feel it and we appreciate it more than you could possibly know. Love and hugs to all!... and more to come! (I have TONS of pictures I haven't yet posted, so forgive me if the next few posts are all pictures and no words. Surely if you've actually read through all of this, you're ready for a little less chatter anyway!) :)

University Parks: Lots of Pictures, few words... :)

2010-10-09T16:56:00.000-07:00

Apologies in advance for the scarcity of words in this particular post. It may be that it's nearly 1am and we have church in the morning, or perhaps it is true what they say about pictures saying a thousand words - so I'll just let them do the talking! Either way I hope you'll forgive me for brevity, and I also hope you'll enjoy these shots taken last weekend at the nearby University Parks. We had so much fun exploring there and literally could NOT stop snapping pictures. Here's one for the Grandparents... Enjoy! (I posted small pictures since there are so many, but please click on any of the images to enlarge.)

Settling in Sweetly

2010-10-09T16:32:00.000-07:00

Sweet friends-of-a-friend have welcomed us to the country in amazing ways!! Wanted to show our friends and family back home some pictures of the cards they had in our hands during our first few days in our new home here in Oxford. I can't tell you how wonderful it felt to walk past these cards each morning during that first week! What an absolutely thoughtful and kind act. Thank you, Becky, Rachel & the rest of Lindsay's "family" here in the UK for all you've done for us! ...And thank you, friends and family back home. This is evidence of your answered prayers in our hands... We love and miss you all.

All things big and small

2010-10-07T14:17:00.000-07:00

For the most part, grocery shopping online is fantastic.

You just pick and choose what you need or want, click it and watch it add to your "trolley" which conveniently keeps a running subtotal so you know how much you're spending. Love it. It's especially nice for those of us with kids and without cars because really building the pantry takes time and heavy-lifting. (We can only haul about 4 bags of groceries with us if it's just me and the girls, and that gets eaten pretty quickly!) With grocery delivery, however, there's no limit to what you can purchase because it all just magically appears on your doorstep and all you have to do is unload the crates of food. BINGO! Full fridge. So online shopping-- I'm a fan.

It's just that I've learned I need to carefully look at what I'm buying and not assume I know what it's going to be. My first delivery had two items that made me laugh: Kleenexes and disposable/foil casserole dishes. I thought I knew what I was buying when I clicked "Kleenex Double box 'value pack'" and added it to my trolley, but apparently I failed to realize that these are called "Man-size" kleenexes. Yeah. Man-size. (See picture of Julia holding the kleenex box and you'll understand my shock and awe.) And the wonderful casserole dishes I ordered since our house wasn't furnished with any... TINY. But, again, that's what I get for not reading. I went back and checked: Sure enough it said "small." Boo. (Now, do I go ahead and order some Pyrex or do I split my recipes into fourths and bake them that way? Pyrex it is.)

There's definitely a learning curve here and at some point maybe I'll get it right. For now, we use our Man-size kleenexes for just about anything. Sometimes they're face wipes, sometimes they're hand towels! And the teeny foil to-go boxes are now holding the girls' art supplies. Beads, stickers, etc. They're happily serving a purpose, even if it wasn't what they were purchased to do.

More groceries come tomorrow! Can't wait to see what we get.

Teen Spirit

2010-10-02T18:04:00.000-07:00

Wow... When did she grow up? Just chillin' out, laying around, playing on the iPod touch... Crazy.

An afternoon on the grounds

2010-10-02T17:44:00.000-07:00

For some reason, Avery was hamming it up... So we ended up with several more pictures of her than Julia but that worked out fine since Julia had a black eye! :( Poor kiddo hit the edge of the sink with her face... but she hasn't done it since!

Two countries, separated by a common language

2010-10-02T16:35:00.000-07:00

Not sure if this is interesting to anyone but for the sake of family journalism, here we go...

I'm a half-and-half fan, but can't find it here. As I completely block the teeny-tiny dairy aisle in a wonderful market that I am certain must have been built for hobbits, I was searching for my beloved half-and-half to be able to make my EXTRA beloved morning coffee complete. I see a wall of white liquid in containers, but I don't see anything that says "half-and-half." I'm faced with a decision: Single cream, double cream, whipping cream, soured cream. (Yeah- Sour cream, right in there with the rest of the "sweet" creams.) Oooh-kay, so NO idea what the difference between single, double and whipping cream is. Maybe I'll reverse the giant rolling island that is carrying both of my children and I'll check the milk jugs to see if half-and-half is in there somewhere. What's this?... Skimmed, Semi-skimmed and Whole fat milk. (Wow... in the States they just say "whole milk" and let you live in ignorant bliss as to what your milk is "whole" of. Then again, everyone here is thin as a rail, so maybe they're onto something.) Ah, crumb... There's a kind 98-year-old British woman who needs to pass with her walker... Grab the single cream and move along.

LITTLE did I know, this was just one of many scenarios I would find myself in: I knew the definition of each word I read but had NO idea what it meant. Here are a few other "new words" we're learning in random order:

Bin = Trash Can
Rubbish = Trash
Hob = Stovetop/Range
"Cheers" = "Thanks" or "bye"
Pants = Underwear
Smalls = Underwear
"When can I call by?" = "When can I stop by?"
You don't "call" someone here, you "phone" them.
You don't "mail" something here, you "post" it. (Or you "pop it in the post" rather than "put it in the mail."
Parcel = package (mail)
Jumper = Sweater/Jacket
Ribbon = Bows (the girls' Sunday School teachers always comment on their pretty "ribbons")
Buggy = Stroller
Mince = Ground Beef
Chips = French Fries
Crisps = Chips
Cutlery = Silverware (they have no idea what "silverware" means)
Crockery = Dishes (they have no idea what "dishes" are)
Toilet = the nicest, most appropriate way to ask where the restroom is: "Where is the toilet?" (Seriously, not joking. This is a difficult one for me!) Other common ones are "the loo" or the less commonly used "W.C."
Garden = Backyard
Boot of the car = Trunk of the car
"Half 10" = 10:30 (Or "half 3" is 3:30... just like we would say "half-past 3")
Eggs are NOT refrigerated! (You'll find them on regular shelves in the market.)
Market = Grocery store
Chemist = Pharmacy
Charity Shop = Thrift store (but they're really great here)
Mobile = Cell phone (and they say it like: MO-bial)
Trolley = Shopping cart
Lift = Elevator
Pub = Public House, actually not the same as what we think of as Pubs in the States, but rather a comfortable restaurant, usually with very good and reasonably priced food.
Week-end = weekend, but they emphasize "end." "How was your week-END?"
Lovely! = Great!
Brilliant! = Great!
A Quid = A pound (Like a buck = a dollar)
A fiver = 5 pound note (Like a 5 dollar bill)
Course = Class (Collin begins his Course on Monday, and he will be "reading for" an MBA)
College = last 2 years of High School as we would consider it in the States. Here, they choose a specialty and focus on that for those 2 years. College as WE know it in the states is called University or "Uni" here.
Half flush/Full flush = Each toilet has the option of making a half flush or full flush and has separate buttons for it.
Hot/Cold water faucets: Each has its own faucet on some sinks, so if you'd like warm water rather than hot or cold, you plug the drain in the basin (sink) and fill it with a mixture of hot and cold. Then use the water collected in the basin. Even single-faucets with hot & cold together produce a solid stream with two distinct temperatures. Hold a finger to the left side of the stream and it's HOT. The right side, simultaneously, is COLD. It's fascinating.
Television: There ISN'T any! To be eligible to receive the general local station channels, one has to purchase a license for about $200/yr. This buys you access to about 5 channels... Rates go up if you want basic cable or anything more.
Bedding: EVERYONE does duvets here, and they use their duvet covers like sheets. SO, there's a fitted sheet and a duvet cover. No flat sheet between. We didn't know this until someone told us after we had already moved into our house here. (That explained why the 3 hotels we've stayed in in Britain have been missing a top sheet!)
Wellies = Rain boots
"Isn't it?" or "Hasn't it?" or "Doesn't it?" = ALL things said after most sentences making a claim, or most sentences in general. For example: "The weather's turned a bit damp, hasn't it?" or "We shouldn't be talking like that, should we?" It's a cultural thing, I'm learning.
Showing the back of the hand with two fingers up (like peace sign) is the equivalent of a middle-finger gesture. Peace sign showing the front of the hand means "peace."
Nosh = food
"Pardon me" = ONLY used here if you are excusing yourself for flatulence. (This is AWFUL for Americans who try to initiate an informational question with this.)
"Quite" = Used frequently in speech, but when used alone it's as if you're saying "absolutely."
To Collect = To get, as in, "I'll go and collect the children"
Smart = Sharp (Here, you dress "smart" to go out or someone can look "smart." Instead of dressing business casual you dress smart casual, or instead of business dress you dress smart business.)

...and that's PLENTY for now... sorry for the LONG list! It's growing every day...

Modern Inconveniences

2010-09-27T14:32:00.000-07:00

Amazing how much joy I get out of the mundane, remedial "chores" of this lifestyle.

I thought I would miss my dishwasher and my washer/dryer, and I do. But honestly, line-drying the clothes and washing the dishes by hand is something, I'm sure, that people all over the nicest parts of the nicest cities in the world do everyday, and it really isn't that bad. Especially when I open my windows and listen to the sounds of sweet giggles and playing girls coming from the garden. Or sometimes, if we're really lucky, our Portuguese neighbor will sit outside and sing while he plays his guitar. He's a Coldplay fan and throws in the occasional Jason Mraz billboard hit, but I digress... Truthfully, though, something deep inside the human spirit finds some sort of unexplainable feeling of rest in work of this kind.

Laundry-- I especially love the smell of clean laundry over here. If our house wasn't furnished with a washer I would be sitting in a corner crying somewhere, but washing is the HARD part -- air-drying isn't half bad! In some ways it's a little fun... especially when good-smelling laundry is draped over hot radiators inside and it makes the whole house smell clean! :)

I thought that living without the conveniences of life would be torturous for one, such as myself, who has become accustomed to having these luxuries. Drive-thru windows, owning a car to go to and from places and being able to carry heavy loads back home in the trunk, dishwashers, washers, dryers, sink disposals... All of these short-cuts that were a regular part of my daily life. I was sure by now I would be missing my army of home appliances and all the extra time they helped to provide me with.

Surprisingly, I'm surviving. :) And I think that this season of life, like all others, will provide several opportunities for me to learn -- through work -- rather than convenience. There is no one more vulnerable or more susceptible to learning a lesson than one who is placed outside their comfort zone. And that's me. OUTSIDE the zone. But yet something about this lifestyle and the slower pace of it all really resonates with me. There's immense satisfaction in pulling dry laundry off the line and clean dishes from the drying rack. (Why is that?) There's a primal feeling of security in watching fruits ripening in the garden and in spotting several other varieties of fruit in our neighbors' gardens while peering over the fence, because then it gives a reason to go knock on the door and introduce ourselves. ("We have apples... you have grapes! How about a trade?") Perhaps it's just the feeling of settling in or the feeling of growing familiar with our new surroundings and our new way of life... Not exactly sure which, but it's truly a beautiful beginning to the season.

Julia having a biscuit on the patio while she "helped" me. (By the way, biscuits are not just what they call cookies, as I thought before. They're a certain kind of cookie-ish treat, and they're addictive!! All but the name... they're actually called "digestives biscuits." Odd name for such a good snack!) We're all hooked. Must start looking into shipping some of these to the States.)

Transformers

2010-09-27T14:15:00.000-07:00

Turning this place into a home, one room at a time...

Below, the dining room is starting to take shape but is still VERY rough! We decided to embrace the blue :) and to use the random blue table (that was originally in the sitting room) as our dining room table. I found a pretty storm blue colored duvet cover at a significant discount (7 pounds!) and thought i could cut it up and use the fabric to line the back of the built-in shelves. I still need to pull it tight and secure it more permanently, and then we will go back in with the shelves... but this gives an idea. The mirror was our favorite find! It was 50% off, making it cost the same as a burrito dinner! (Actually a little less!) It makes the room come together a little better. I'll keep working and post better "final" pictures if it looks much different, but progress pictures are kind of fun too. :)

After dinner excursion

2010-09-27T13:55:00.000-07:00

We love exploring our new city, and it seems like everywhere we turn there's another surprise or something fun to find. This little park in Summertown was a fun place to stroll past after dinner one night last week! The girls loved the tire swings, slide, "treehouse" and see-saw in the sand box. I loved that they wore themselves out and went to sleep easily! :)

Odd Bits...

2010-09-27T12:44:00.000-07:00

An icon tries to remain relevant - See sign at top. It's okay, little red English phone booth... Because of mobile phones and wi-fi, you're pretty much just sculpture now, but you're still going to have plenty of people taking pictures with you!

Ummmmm... Hmmmm... *Most of you probably saw this one on Facebook already, but it's still worth posting here. Although, I HAVE become very familiar with Zebra Crossings now. And it's "zebra" pronounced like "Deborah." Say "ZEE-bruh" and be prepared for several sideways glances.

This is proudly posted on the wall of Mission Burrito, the ONLY Burrito served in Oxford. Loved how it aims to educate the masses with a little Tex-Mex vocab. "toe-mah-tee-yos" ...classic.

Avery's favorite way to sit in the stroller: Backwards, looking down on Julia. (insert eye-roll here.. cute picture, though)

...Then Avery asked for the camera so she could make a picture of US. Not bad, Aves!

And later that night, she made this one of Jules that I happened to love, distorted angles and all. :)

Despite the look on Julia's face here that I happened to catch on camera, the girls seem to really enjoy getting to play with toys and kids their size while I attend Monday Mums. So glad they have each other, but also happy their making new friends. (Notice my sweet Texas girl with her gigantic bow... Local little girls DON'T do bows.)

iLuv iPad

Weekend Review: Part 2

2010-09-24T15:59:00.000-07:00

Which is worse: That it's taken me nearly a full week to give a report on the second half of our weekend or that I am sitting in a quiet house choosing to sacrifice sleep in order to achieve my self-set deadline of posting "Part 2" before the new weekend begins? (One of my shoulder-Angels says, "Get a grip, Steph... Your true blog-followers would excuse a little blog-slacking if they knew you were getting a good night's rest." And the other shoulder-Angel says, "Blog followers? ...you truly do live in your own little world, dontcha?"

Well, ultimately it's head-over-shoulders tonight in my cozy cottage and here I sit at the strike of midnight (Oxford time) entering a new weekend and blogging about the last... but it was a great Sunday and well worth blogging about.

Our first Sunday morning in Oxford looked vastly different than our typical Sundays in Texas. Sure, it's always rush-rush-rush on a Sunday (Why is that?) and that one element remained the same for us here in England. The main difference was the mode of transportation. It used to be easy: Load up in the Jeep, hit southbound 75, exit, park, see several familiar faces on the walk in, everything familiar and comfortable. The UK version was quite different! It involved lots of walking and stroller-pushing, a couple of bus rides changing routes in the city center and then walking into Headington Baptist as first-time visitors, not really knowing a single soul and only hoping not to completely stand out! Were we nervous? Honestly, No. Curious? Absolutely. Collin and I were both ready to see how church operates here and if it's much different from home, and this sweet church was recommended to us by friends of ours who attended here for a number of years so we were anxious to take a peek inside.

We were instantly greeted and welcomed with a choice of hot coffee or tea (or "squash," which Collin and I both thought was a strange thing to serve with tea and coffee until we found out that it's actually just juice... Not squash, or squash juice or anything having to do with the vegetable called squash.) We stood and spoke with several nice members of the church as we waited for the start of the late service. It wasn't long until the Johnson family found us and introduced themselves. Our friends, Lindsay & Jonathan Arnold, had introduced us to them via Facebook and we had been invited to their house for lunch following the service. They truly took us underwing and made us feel perfectly at home.

The worship service was wonderful and refreshing! This is a congregation that loves the Lord and loves each other. Profoundly. The girls really enjoyed getting to play with toys and other people their size as we attended the service and they were SO proud to show us what they had made when we returned to them.

Following the service (and more tea, coffee & squash!) we hopped into a car with Becky and her son, Bruno, and headed to the Johnson's home for Sunday Roast. Our folded stroller filled the entire boot (boot=trunk) of the car and nearly didn't fit! Riding in the backseat of the car was a fun adventure as we rode on the "wrong" side of the road. I kept having near panic attacks, but we were always perfectly safe! I just kept forgetting how different "opposite" can feel. We arrived back home a little before Becky's husband Andrew and daughter Nadia, but killing time was EASY for the girls as they made friends with the Johnsons' sweet Golden/Lab mix, Leo, and also found a trampoline in the garden! (garden=backyard) The girls were in jump Heaven... and then it got better! Nadia came home and helped the girls feed cabbage and carrots to the family's pet rabbit, Honey. (Does a Sunday afternoon get any better for a couple of kids?)

Lunch was amazing- Think Thanksgiving feast, but it was just an every-Sunday thing for them. "Sunday Roast," they call it, and they do this EVERY WEEK! Not just the Johnsons... The British! And we think we work hard on Thanksgiving?? Seriously. Every Sunday. Becky is a genius with roast chicken and stuffing. The roast potatoes and parsnips were a treat and the cabbage and carrots were such fun for us as a family who doesn't tend to make those for ourselves. Smothering everything in dark brown gravy was the best part. ...Well, actually the BEST part was dessert: Warm pineapple upside-down cake with warm custard poured-over. And coffee. (...can you read me smiling as I type this?)

I must admit, there was a specific time at lunch that I had to take a step back and allow myself a little out-of-body feeling of, "Am I really here right now, eating with this positively fabulous British family and being spoiled with an incredible lunch? Is this really happening?" Of course it was happening, and it was the best way possible to spend our Sunday afternoon.

Sometime around 4pm we were back at our Summertown flat. Gotta love it!... A long, leisurely lunch wrapping up just in time to start thinking about dinner. :) Sunday Roast: I think they're onto something there. America should think about incorporating this tradition. (So long as I don't have to cook it!) :)

Thank you, Johnsons! You are wonderful!!

(Everyone together! Andrew, Bruno, Nadia, Collin, Julia, Steph, Avery, Becky & Leo)

Weekend Review: Part 1

2010-09-20T16:54:00.000-07:00

Our first weekend here in Oxford was eventful and fun!
(Left: Avery found her name! Right: Jules & Collin finishing a yummy Saturday morning breakfast at Nosh 2 Go)

(Below: The Eagle and Child, where writers including C.S. Lewis & J.R.R. Tolkien -who were also Oxford University professors/faculty- met together in a club. It's affectionately termed "The Bird and Baby" by the locals.)

We began with a visit on Saturday to Green Templeton College (the College Collin belongs to here at the University) to pick up the keys for a peek inside our house. The College grounds here are phenomenal and Green Templeton (GTC) is no exception. We were greeted by Burbank, the College mascot Cat that has been "adopted" by GTC because he always just hangs around. We strolled across the grounds and then through the gate to Observatory Street, making our way to #15... Home, sweet home! (Disclaimer: It hadn't yet been cleaned from the last tenant when we visited, so keep that in mind when viewing these pictures.)

(Left: Collin outside the GTC Courtyard and Porter's Lodge. Right: The girls slept through meeting Burbank, but I think we'll see plenty of him as we live VERY near this courtyard.)

(Below: On the grounds of GTC, in front of the Radcliffe Observatory.

(Below: Walking down our street, Observatory Street.

(Left: Turning the key! Right: I'm only going to show pictures of what was semi-clean for now, the rest can -and SHOULD- wait until you see it in better shape! But you can get the idea. It's itty-bitty and old, but we *heart* it!)

(Below Left: Dining room, and the "washer/dryer" looking things in the corner are actually our refrigerator and freezer! Below Right: Tricky stairs. Yikes.)

(Below: The "wow" view out the girls' bedroom window.)

...Sigh... As with any house built in the 1830's, it has several "projects" to complete before it will feel like home, but it is wonderful. The location is absolutely fantastic. We are near everything! A market, (grocery store) a chemist (pharmacy) a dry cleaners and hair salon are just on the corner, PLUS the yummy Jericho Cafe is at the other end of the street and is surrounded by other thriving shops, theaters, etc. Our garden (backyard-- here "yards" are for chickens) overlooks the beautiful Radcliffe Observatory which was built in the late 1700's. It's surreal to look out the kitchen window and just see it standing there. AND we have apples in the garden! A gorgeous, healthy apple tree stretches from our neighbor's garden to ours and is bearing apples on it's branches... too many to count. We picked two and ate them-- they were impressively sweet. I have plans to make an apple pie to celebrate our first week in the house.

(Below: We have APPLES!)

(Below Left: View looking back towards the house, and Avery practicing her best Harry Potter "leviosa" move with the apple. :) Below Right: Girls with Collin at our back gate leading to walkway towards the Observatory/College grounds.)

We have a washer (which is a HUGE deal-- Most houses here don't) but no dryer, so I'll be using the clothesline unit in the back which you can see in the pictures. (It looks like a satellite or something.) The furniture is pretty institutional, but it will be fine for a year. It's what you would expect of college-owned housing I guess. The kitchen and bathroom are hilariously sad, but they will do the trick! :) The bedrooms are perfect-- we can easily make those homey. The stairs are scary!! Narrow and very steep. Baby gates will go up for sure. We are thrilled with the location, the neighbors, the community, and the garden... The rest of the house just needs a little love. :)

(Below: The shops around the corner)

After seeing the house, we ventured off to shop and explore the city center a little. The girls needed a snack, so we snacked in style with two cookie pops which they loved. And as the day wound down and dinner approached, we hit the jackpot. Avery had been asking for a burrito since Day 2! (Ahhh, my little Texan.) We really didn't think we'd EVER find a burrito here in Oxford... Until...... :) With full tummies and after a FULL day, we took the bus home to our "flat" for a good night's sleep.

(Below: Manna from Heaven for Avery in the form of BURRITOS!! They were GOOD, too. A mix between Freebirds & Chipotle. This TexMex family gives it our seal of approval.) :)

Loving the Library!

2010-09-19T14:43:00.000-07:00

Why is it so much fun to go do things that feel "normal," but to experience them in new places?

The girls and I had one mission on this particular Friday: To register with the library and check out some books. (The four, thin paper-backs we carried onto the plane had lost their bedtime magic long ago.) Had a brief embarrassing moment when we were actually standing inside a book SHOP but thought it was the library. I went to ask about how to get a library card and the sweet lady behind the counter (who was VERY gracious and kind) informed me that this was not the library and pointed me just a few blocks down the street. To my credit, there is a sign right outside the shop that says "Library" and points down the street... I just thought it was pointing at the cute place with books in the window! (Oops.)

But once we found the right bookworm spot on the street, we really enjoyed it and the girls had fun choosing new books to check out. It's fun because the books here read in a British way and I have trouble trying to read them without practicing my accent! HA! ...But seriously, who can read a line like "One slurpy sip later, Vernon clambers up onto his favourite cushion" without trying it a little? It makes the girls look at me a little sideways, but it's fun.

But at the end of the day, it was a productive outing. We met another sweet American family with young children, made it home with a library card, got a bank account established with money deposited AND picked up a load of groceries that the girls and I shopped for ourselves while Collin was still at the bank. We all met back at the house where I already had dinner on the stove... and after dinner, Collin and the girls played in the back until sundown. Successful days like this aren't necessarily an everyday occurrence in our house, so we'll just celebrate them when they come. :)

Julia in the book shop before I knew it was just a shop... Oops!

Yeah... this is more like it...

Girls playing behind our complex

Day 2: LOTS of fun, ZERO pictures.

2010-09-16T13:25:00.000-07:00

"No Memory Card" was the phrase that sucked the wind out of me today as we were strolling down the street. I wanted to make a picture of Julia riding on Collin's shoulders with the shops and pretty trees in the background, but all those dreams came to a crashing halt when I turned the camera on and realized that pictures were not going to happen. ...boo... That's what I get for making an attempt at a blog post last night before crashing from exhaustion. Always, always return the memory card to the camera... it's rule #1 of Moms who blog! I guess I'm slipping.

Nevertheless, we had a fun-filled afternoon exploring our new digs. We walked down to our new address on Observatory street and I was really happy that I've obsessively studied Google Maps over the past few months because I felt like I knew exactly where we were at all times. I even said things like, "Oh, there's the market at St. Bernard's... that means that we're getting close!" (If you know my sense of direction, or lack thereof, having any kind of grasp on where I am in a new place is a big deal for me.)

We were heading out to meet up with Bess & Ellie Claire (so far just facebook friends of ours until today) who had invited us to the park near Ellie Claire's school. Collin needed to run by the offices at the college which was right near our house on Observatory so we decided to walk down the street. As we walked, I heard someone say, "Stephanie!" (If you've never been on a foreign continent and heard someone call your name out, I hope you get to experience it one day. It's truly cool, and it made Oxford immediately feel like home.) It was, of course, Bess and Ellie Claire. We chatted and shared stories, learned from their experiences and generally enjoyed just standing and socializing on the street by our house. Bess took us down to knock on the door of other friends on our street, Livia & Nick, who have 1-year-old daughter named Stella. Livia and Nick invited us in so the girls and I, along with Bess & EC, had fun in Stella's playroom while Collin took care of business at the college. Really enjoyed this group! It's so wonderful to feel like I already have some familiar faces here. Such a blessing.

Before starting back to Summertown where we're currently staying before moving into our house, we stopped to eat at the Jericho Cafe which is just a stone's throw from our house on Observatory. Honestly, one of the biggest stereo-types that has been completely falsified in my mind is that the food here is bland or somehow not tasty. NOT true. I'm finding that I have loved everything we've eaten! Tonight's steak tuna melt was kind of spectacular... So was the girls' pizza & spaghetti. We'll be going back to the Jericho Cafe frequently.

So, I forgot! Collin did snap a few pictures on his phone: One of us by the street sign, and one other that shows what happens after too much fun with new friends. Not even lollipops could keep them awake on the walk home. Too bad they didn't transfer to their beds asleep, but we're slowly getting into some kind of routine I think! Tomorrow's the true test.

Thanks for all the encouragement! We love and miss all of our US friends and family and we hope you'll come and visit!

"What are we doing?"

2010-09-15T16:58:00.000-07:00

That was the question we asked ourselves a time or two on the journey here.

It's true, though. I mean, who does this?! Who whittles their belongings down from a 4 person, 2 car, 3-bedroom/2-bathroom house to a pile of luggage suitable for flying? And furthermore, who moves across an ocean with their 2 preschoolers in tow? Well, truthfully, we're finding it's more common than we thought. After all, most of our ancestors did this, right? But their version of "crossing the ocean" meant something entirely different and I'm glad we're not having to row that boat. Even still, one thing's for sure: Through this process I have cultivated a profound new respect for anyone who moves from their home culture to pursue a dream abroad. Kudos.

(Drew says, "Don't goooooo!" ...not really what he was crying about, but that's what I like to think.) :)

Overall, our journey here was quite uneventful! We breezed through security at DFW even though we held up the line for a while with our 10+ gray trays of shoes, electronics, kid junk, etc. Stopped for a quick bite before boarding and then went right onto the plane! Our Boeing 777 was great and we had an entire row of 5 seats to ourselves. Not bad! The girls did a pretty nice job, although they did get squirmy and fussy once or twice. (Pictures will illustrate the deterioration of Julia... 2-year-olds just aren't meant to sit quietly still in a confined space for 9+ hours without some SERIOUS sedatives.)

(Why are iPads so great? ...See above.)

A few hiccups and/or favorite memories so far include:

Realizing that in a last-minute decision to check a bag packed to be a carry-on, I ultimately sent ALL of the Pull-Ups I had for Julia into the belly of the plane. (Oops!) I had one lonely spare in my purse, and thank the Lord it was enough.
Collin quickly explaining to the girls as we sat waiting to take off that "soon the engines will get loud and the plane will go fast and then we'll lift into the air and we'll be flying!" And then when we heard the engines start to rev, Avery turned and asked, "Are those the 'Aunt Jens' getting loud?"
Julia made us die laughing/want to crawl under our chairs when she shouted during take off, "Yee-Haw! Giddyup cowboy!!" ...twice, loudly. Awesome.
Watching the girls sleep on the plane gave us a brief a sigh of relief...
Skipping to the FRONT of the ridiculously-long line/mass of humanity at Heathrow immigration because we were traveling with small children. (Seriously, it saved us hours of line-torture. We probably could have rented-out our kids for millions! ...not that it crossed our minds at all, because that would make us terrible people... right?...)

(Bright-eyed girls waking up in British airspace and getting ready to land. "Waking up" is a loosely-used term here... They only slept about 1.5 hours, and maybe only 50 minutes of that was quiet sleep. Some are sleep walkers, some sleep talkers... Julia's a sleep kicker, and that just doesn't work on a plane laying next to her sister. ...but, hey, it was a moment of peace for me & Collin to attempt some shut-eye, so we took it!)

(Standing in Heathrow looking back at our plane and waving goodbye)

(Happy to be in their car seats on the taxi-bus ride to Oxford!)

But now we're here-- it's real and surreal all at the same time. It's been wonderful so far. And truthfully we may never fully know the answer to the "What are we doing?" question we're sure to ask ourselves from time to time, because this is something that God has done. And though we've asked Him a time or two to let us in on what He's up to, I don't think He's as interested in filling us in on what He's doing as much as He wants to reveal to us more of who He is. So we'll keep taking all of this in a day at a time, putting one foot in front of the other... Here we go. :)

(Made dinner the first night, but don't be disillusioned... This beautiful kitchen doesn't belong to us, it's just the fantastic flat we're renting before we are allowed to move into our house. AND this yummy British chicken was not my doing, either. It was made by someone named Mark or Spencer, not sure which but I love them both! It's a short walk to the market so we just picked up a bag of groceries and came home to heat & eat. We feel so metropolitan! It's great. Avery & Julia were super impressed, as you can see. Oh, well...)

(Happy sisters, settling in fine.)

Welcome!

2010-09-15T15:43:00.000-07:00

Hello, World! We've moved!

In the literal sense, but also in the blog world. This blog is still very much a work-in-progress, so please excuse the current lack of visual appeal. I wish I could promise improvements soon, but I somewhat expect expatriate life to be unpredictable at best. We'll just see how it goes. :)

We sincerely hope you'll check in frequently throughout year to walk in our shoes for a while, and we'll promise to post lots of pictures and stories about our adventures abroad-- on foot. :) Don't forget to feed the fish!... We named them in honor of one of the things we'll miss most about life in Texas.