The Day of Love: Part 1

Earlier this week, Nathan said he had a special surprise for me on my day off (Friday). I was really excited until he said, "And we have to leave the house at 7:30." I think it's a well-established fact that I love my sleep. A lot.


Fortunately, Nathan had a change of heart and decided to let me sleep in a little. At 8:00 he came in and turned on that horrible light bulb and said, "Wake up! It's the Day of Love!" In his hands he had a fabulous smelling plate of breakfast delights and a mug of tea. I was so excited! 


"Take my picture!" I exclaimed. I knew this was going to be an awesome day. And it was. The Day of Love.

He still forgets that I am not having the same love affair with butter that he is.

This is my face prophesying his face for this shot. Was I right, or was I right? As you already know, it wasn't that hard to predict.

We got in the car and drove north. He asked if I knew where we were going. I said, "Alnwick (pronounced Ahnick)?" It's a castle and gardens I've wanted to see.

"Nope."

"Bambrough?" Another castle.

"Nope."

"The Newcastle airport to get Burger King?"

"No. But now I know what we're doing for dinner."

We drove for about an hour, and I kept seeing signs for Alnwick. I asked him again, "Are you sure we're not going to Alnwick?"

"We are not going to Alnwick [Annick]. We're going to ALNWICK [Ahnick]!!!"

So, he didn't tell me at first because he was bummed that I guessed it right away, and then when he did tell me, he made fun of the way I pronounced it. I didn't care though. I was so pumped! We've heard great things about it, and unlike all of the English Heritage sites we've been to, this castle actually has a Duke and Duchess and their family living in it. Well, at least during the winter months. 

Here we are! Alnwick was also the set of Hogwarts for some of the first couple Harry Potter movies.

We went inside, but we were not allowed to take pictures or touch anything. It was so amazing though. We saw the grand dining room, drawing room, an amazing china display, a family chapel and lots of other stuff. Inside their library, which looks like the Beauty and the Beast library, there is a flat screen TV and overstuffed chairs and magazines and family pictures.  

The Duke of Northumberland, Ralph Percy, and his wife Duchess Jane Percy, have four kids. Their oldest is a year younger than me, and she just got married in February. They had the coach that she rode in on display as well as her wedding dress.

Here's a picture of her wedding day... The Duke is on the right, and his daughter, Lady Katie, is on the left. I'm not sure who the dude is who is checking his phone.

Credit

Wait... I found a better picture.

Okay, this is getting way too long. I'm going to have to break down the Day of Love into a few more posts. While you wait for more, be sure to enjoy someone you love.

Fall Look

Warning: These pictures are totally random and completely unrelated. I didn't want to make separate posts for them though...

Nathan and I saw these on sale at the sporting goods store a few weeks ago. They look like they're made for a cowboy whose had too much time on his horse.

This was a welcome sight I saw walking near school.

Lovely fall leaves and free windfall apples.

What are you doing to celebrate fall? I am trying to get geared up to make some warm autumn desserts and some apple cider in the crock pot. Yum!

Our Week of Summer in Autumn

Sorry for the lack of posting lately. Working all day has definitely put a damper on my blogging time. We've had a lot of company too, which as been awesome. On Thursday night, we had a girl over from my school who is from Dunwoody. Yeah. Like 7 miles away from our house in Atlanta. We had chips and salsa, chili, corn bread, and s'mores. Very American of us.

I also have not yet blogged about the amazing summer we had last week. It was about 78 and sunny for four straight days, which I think is the warmest it's ever been since we moved here. Last Thursday, on one of these summer days, Nathan and I went back to our old stomping grounds near the North Barn. It was my favorite running trail, which we called the Trail of Tears (major blog-stalker points if you remember why), and went for a nice warm walk. It was so fun, and we took lots of silly pictures.

Like this one. I had to jump up to be that tall, and Nathan snapped the picture.

Sheep in the English countryside at sunset

My handsome husband

Scary

Pretty sky, shiny face, wrinkly neck

Just checking things out

Stay tuned! I have a bunch of fun posts lined up, which I have scheduled for release almost every day this week.

House Tour Numero Tres

As I was unpacking even more Tesco bags last weekend, I came across all of the kind cards and letters that people have sent us this year, from the Christ Church Presbyterian youth group, from EBQ and CLQ, from Sandy and Bobby, from Robin, from Natalie, from Allison, from Amy, from my mom and dad, from my in-laws... and so many others! I was so, so overwhelmed with gratefulness yet again for the love and prayers and support that has come across the pond to us.


In many ways, our second year here so far has felt like a completely different life. For starters, I have a great job (but a lot less time on my hands to blog). We're in a new place with some wonderful housemates. Nathan and I are leading a college Bible study on Thursday nights instead of with the twenties and thirties crowd on Wednesday nights. It's been a lot of change in a short amount of time. It's all been good change, but change nonetheless, which has been hard at times. I realized that I was probably feeling its stressful effects when, after picking up the fourth dirty Kleenex that Nathan left lying somewhere, I just about "lost the plot," as the British say.


However, we've also been really excited about being able to use this house to bless people. We've had lots of folks over for meals, we're on our third house guest already (Kristine, YEAH!). 


Here's the third and final house tour. This is just the top floor - where the Parkers hang out.

Yes, I know the shower curtain is too short. The liner inside is at least two feet longer. I don't know why they sell liners that are way longer than the outer curtain. Sigh...

I got a lampshade for the sad lightbulb.

Here is the view from the clothes corner.

And here is the view from the bookshelf corner.

Another shot of the bed, which is made. Picture worthy.

Guest room. Scored the bedding - a double duvet and four pillowcases - at Ikea for 3.99.

Our now ridiculously extensive VHS collection.

Nathan's office has not changed. The door is still closed.


Now what would be really cool is if we could give you a tour in person. Don't be shy. Invite yourself over! You'd at least get a cuppa and some digestives.

Things You Don't Find in America

Our new friends, Andy and Miranda, have a blog, and Miranda just wrote an amazing post about some differences in British and American culture here. Everything from different papers sizes to skeleton keys to mud rooms to radiators to stained glass bay windows. Seriously... these were some of the things swirling around my head when I first got here but just didn't have the energy to write about. Check it out!

Kids are Funny

One of the most wonderful aspects of my job is the time I get to have with my kids one-on-one (the Brits say "one-to-one") and in small groups. It makes the process of getting to know them so much faster. I gave my Saturday students a "Getting to Know You" form last week, and interestingly enough, the following question elicited the most laughs from me. Here it is, followed by some of their answers.


If I found £10, I would spend it on…


- buying some chocolate


- noodles


- in the church


- top up


- keep for future


- buying beautiful things


- Who cares, it’s only 10 quid!


- Give it to teacher, cause that not mine.


Another funny story: 


A student told me that when he was younger he did judo, but he didn't like it very much because it was only about defensive moves. However, his mother didn't want him doing anything too dangerous. Now he's into a hobby called "parcour," also known as free running. That could be the European name for it, but I had no idea what he was talking about. He showed me what he meant with a YouTube clip.





I'm pretty sure that it's more dangerous than American football, rugby, and ultimate fighting put together. His skill in this was confirmed by the headmaster, who had several of the international students over for Sunday lunch. The head asked the student to get some apples out of their tree, and the kid was up there "faster than a rat up a drain pipe." 


Dang, I love funny kids.

Also, check out this video of my school that just came out today. I'm so proud!

Culture Shock

http://www2.pacific.edu/sis/culture/


The website above will take you to a really useful module - kind of like an online class - for people who are transitioning to different cultures. I condensed it and helped train my Saturday students about it, but I think it's worth a read-through if you are living somewhere outside of your home country or are thinking about it. Best case scenario would be that you read it before you go and a few times while you're there and again before you go home.


I'll admit, the format is quite old school. The pictures are dated too. In fact, it looks like something one of my fellow Intercultural Communications classmates could have made in 2002. Just sayin'...It's got some great content though. Check it out!

Credit

And just in case you're tuned into the fact that I work until 10:30 on Wednesday nights and noticed that this was (hopefully) posted at 7:00 p.m., I figured out how to schedule posts! I can write a handful of different posts and publish them one at a time anytime later on in the week from the comfort of my own home. Now, why did that take me three years to learn?