Cor, blimey - it's wet here!

Happy Days...

2006-10-12T11:18:00.000+01:00

Today is officially a Happy Day. Today, Lindsay got her settlement visa, which means she is officially allowed to stay here indefinitely. And that makes me very, very HAPPY! Although it was one of those things that they [big scary government] were quite unlikely to deny, it's still kind of nerve-racking getting together all your evidence, and worrying that you don't have enough proof that you've lived together over the past 2 years (which is what they're looking for). I was also slightly worried because they said it could take up to 3 months, which would be a bit hairy as we're going back to the States for Christmas and the immigration people would still have our passports! But in the end it only took 3 weeks. So, 2 1/2 years after the process began, Lindsay is 'settled'. Thank you God!

Lindsay does the Bristol Half-Marathon!

2006-09-27T09:07:00.000+01:00

Yes, it's been a while. A long while. But here's something you might like to see - Lindsay's finish at the Bristol Half-Marathon. There are some general shots of Bristol and the race first before you get to it, but it's worth it! I'm sure she'll want to write some stuff about it, but for now enjoy the video!

The Sweltering Heat

2006-07-18T22:30:00.000+01:00

Roads have been melting in parts of England as the heatwave across most of the country continues.

BBC NEWS | UK | England | Roads melt as temperatures soar

Man, it is seriously hot here. Perhaps it noticeable because it isn't normally so hot, and we don't have air conditioning. Tomorrow it's predicted to be 36C (97F), and right now, at 10:30pm it's 25C (77F). Sleeping is difficult. Still, in a week it'll be cold again and everyone will be complaining about how it's never summer here. You can't win, eh?

Well, spare a thought for those using the Underground in London, where temperatures were reportedly as high as 47C (117F) yesterday.

Camping in the USA

2006-06-30T00:56:00.000+01:00

So, we're having a jolly time over in the United States of America. We've just returned from our camping trip in Door County, Wisconsin. Wow, it was great fun. We were camping in the woods, in a State Park. Everyone has a clearing with a picnic bench and fire pit, plus enough place for your tent/camper and car. We played lots of cards, went for ice cream, watched the sunset, climbed a crazy tall tower... and more! I've uploaded a few photos to flickr - click the link on the right to see them. Hopefully I'll put more on soon.

The Cup so Far...

2006-06-15T13:19:00.000+01:00

Well, well, well.... it's been a GREAT World Cup so far. Lots of attacking, lots of goals. Very few bad matches. England didn't fare too well against Paraguay, but we won and that's what counts. In 4 hours, we'll be playing Trinidad & Tobago, and not discounting their performance against Sweden, we should win and be through to the second round.

On the Fantasy Football front, it's seems that picking your team from a sticker album (as Lindsay did) is the best way forward. Kudos to Sarah Pollasch for storming into second place in the first phase. My best decisions... choosing Kaka ahead of Ronaldinho; and picking David Villa - who scored 2 for Spain. Speaking of Spain - this has to be goal of the Tournament so far. A glorious team goal and a fantastic finish by Fernando Torres.

My Sofa World Cup has been giving me the most laughs with their descriptions/observations of various English commentators. Also, the Guardian's World Cup site has a lot of very interesting, detailed articles on the World Cup - better than the usual 'Rooney might be fit!' stuff. Check that out.

Lastly, a big fat boo to Ronaldo for his rubbish performance against Croatia. He literally waddled around for 65 minutes (until he was taken off). Perhaps he thought he was on a Sunday afternoon stroll, or maybe he didn't realise the game had started - for an hour. The contrast between him and Robinho was dramatic - Robinho seemed to do more work in 30 seconds than Ronaldo did for the whole game. Will he improve? Who knows, but maybe he should warm the bench for a while, and let some other people score some goals.

1 day to go!

2006-06-08T16:21:00.000+01:00

The post marks the occassion of just over 1 day to go until the World Cup begins! This time tomorrow, we will be watching the opening ceremony, before Germany take on Costa Rica! What a month...

Of course the greatest news of the past 24 hours is that Rooney is no longer injured. He won't play straight away, but he will play at some point, which is just the boost we needed. Of course, we still have Crouch and his fantastic dancing to entertain us in the meantime.

Speaking of brilliance - here's the best player in the world doing his tricks. Phew, wouldn't like to meet him on a dark football pitch. (That doesn't quite work, but oh well.... only 24 hours until the World Cup! Did I say that already?!)

Tomorrow is an official World Cup Holiday. I made that up of course, but I will be doing World Cup related things all day, starting with putting my wallchart up. Then I will make some finishing touches to my fantasy team, and do lots of other crazy football related things. Hoorah!

So, on we go!

World Cup Websites

2006-05-31T19:38:00.000+01:00

Scouring the world wide web for World Cup fun, I've come across some brilliant and amusing sites. Of course the BBC already seem to be winning with their coverage - and it hasn't even started yet. The World Cup Blog website is fantastic - fans from all over the world contribute their thoughts and amusing stories about their team.

This made me chuckle - it is serious, and hey, maybe it'll work - but it's still funny. Remember, football is just a game. [Moment of quiet reflection.]

One of the great things about the World Cup is the football themed adverts on TV. The world's stars get together and doing some crazy tricks. There's the obligatory Nike commercial with the Brazilian team doing mad stuff in an airport or on a beach. This site has links to a few of the best ones over the past few years.

And then there's the Fantasy Football. Your knowledge against everyone else's. We've started a league and got a good crowd already, so if you want to join in, let me know!

Back soon with more World Cup fever!

The excitement builds...

2006-05-29T12:59:00.000+01:00

Yes, yes, it's been a while (again). I have a feeling it won't be the last time we say that... Still, I have decided to channel my enthusiasm for the upcoming World Cup (football/soccer, whatever you want to call it) into this blog. For those of you on the other side of the pond, you may wonder what all the fuss is about. In fact, you probably aren't aware of any fuss. Here it is a different story...

For those who hate football, June/July every four years is a very depressing time. But they have the other 3 years, 11 months to be happy, so hey - they'll get over it. What is so good about the World Cup anyway, I hear you ask?! Well, firstly, it really is the World Cup. Over the past 2/3 years, over 150 countries around the world have been battling it out for the chance to play in the World Cup. Now it's down to 32, and the real fun begins. Teams from Europe, South America, Africa, Asia, North America, Oceania... everywhere. The fun of watching the minnows take on the big guns, the skills and quality from all over the world... nothing really comes close. The Olympics isn't a patch on the World Cup.

Over here right now, the media is going beserk about the World Cup, specifically the chances of our currently injured star player - Wayne Rooney (whose nickname is apparently 'Wazza') - recovering in time to play a part in the tournament.

Every match is broadcast on TV - at times there are 3 games on every day! Oh, the brilliance! The whole thing starts on June 9th... England play Paraguay on June 10th. (And for those of you supporting the U.S.A, your first game is on June 12th, against the Czech Republic.)

I will be reporting with interesting and bizarre snippets of information in the coming weeks and throughout the tournament.

Some time later...

2006-04-01T15:42:00.000+01:00

Well, no-one has written a post on this site for a while... tsk, tsk. Had more than our fair share of snide comments about that too.

What's happened in between then and now? Well lots. Lindsay has been to the States and back (a few pictures now reside in our Flickr account). Winter has slowly turned to Spring, and it even feels like Summer might actually be something more than a childhood dream. Especially as we get to spend a couple of weeks of it in the States! Yep, that's right, we're both going back and we will be camping. Lindsay tells me it is high quality camping - something frequently referred to last summer when we spent a few days in the Gower. Apparently we (the English) are content to camp in fields where you have to be near other people... wherever we are going you get your own little space! I'm not really sure what to expect, but I imagine it will be great fun as long as we don't get eaten by bears, bitten by snakes, attacked by raccoons or [insert negative action] by [insert animal not present in the UK]. The list is endless really...

So yes, that will be fun. In other American news, we will apparently be cycling across the U.S. at some point. I suggest that rather than doing that we take a road trip. I even made a little file to show the route we'd take in Google Earth, but I'm not sure where I can upload it so you can see it... If I work that out I'll tell you. Cycling is good an all... just not sure about 3000 miles, or however far it is. Still if that guy can walk across America, perhaps we can cycle? I'd like to do it - hey I'd like to cycle along all the way down the Pan American Highway - the question is, is it feasible? Or perhaps I shouldn't think about that - perhaps we should just do it, though not right now as it will soon be time for tea. I suppose if we're going to be ambitious, how about going round the world on bikes - like Ewan McGregor and Charlie Whatsit did, but purely using human power? One day, maybe. For now I will content myself with flying round the world on Google Earth - faster, and more convenient.

Checking In

2006-02-09T21:37:00.000Z

Time is 9:40p.m.

I have written 636 words on the 'Lisa' case study.

Has gone ok...I would emphasize the 'rough' in rough draft.

Next Up? One hour drafting response to the next case study. This one is about 'Elsa', a 76 year old woman with dementia, recently suffered a stroke and is in hospital...she is about to be released from hospital, returning to her home where her husband will care for her. So this one is all about assessing her needs (the stroke has left her wheelchair bound and with limited speech) and the needs of her husband. Researching this one has been so interesting, in part because what is set out in law & policy is all a big mess and the truth is that there's not much money put into caring for the elderly in the UK.

One thing that has really struck me: one chapter I was reading yesterday talked about the fact that professionals/society need to remember that older people are not a separate entity from the rest of human life/experience. Basically, it was saying that a person doesn't stop being who they always were when they get older, despite the changes they may experience physically (such as Elsa's stroke) or mentally/psychologically (her confusion and dementia), she's still a person defined by the collection of her life experiences, her dreams, her likes, dislikes.

Sometimes the things I read in these academic articles are so full of common sense, it makes me wonder at the world we live in; a world where someone has to theorize and do research to state what should be obvious to everyone.

It is now 9:53p.m. Reeeeaaaaadddddddddddddyyyyyyyyyy.............

GO!

Two posts in One night...she must be procrastinating...

2006-02-09T20:36:00.000Z

Yes I am!

But, you are all benefiting from my procrastination, so I expect only support and gratefulness.

Just wanted to say (quickly), that I have stayed home from my cell group (with church) in order to work on a 4,000 word essay which is due Monday. It's worth 50% of my grade for this module (that's big).

It's alright, but, as I am alone (and those who know me well know that that's never a good thing) and am SUPPOSED to be doing something relatively productive, I am going to give you ongoing updates on the status of my essay-writing-progress.

Currently:

It is 8:40p.m. - In the past hour I have: gone onto my university's (UWE) library website and tried to navigate my way through it, searching for online journal articles. Realized I was in trouble when I couldn't actually remember my password or user I.D. - this is due to the fact that I haven't used the library website in over a year! :) ah, yes...quality work. Finally, after many Failed attempts at obtaining my password and finding search methods that work...found three really good journal articles on working with people who have dementia and even some communication methods to use with stroke survivors (I particularly like this one because there are lots of pictures). No, all in all, very good sources.

Now 8:46p.m. - Goal for the next hour is to write a first draft of my answers to the first of three case studies we've been given. In case your interested, the case study is about a 13 year old named 'Lisa'...she's suddenly been playing truant from school, is distracted, is producing messy/incomplete work and is not willing to talk about it with anyone. Also, she has some nasty scratches on her arms. It's my job to do a little detective work, know which parts of the law I will be working under and all in all, save the day. I have done a good deal of the research for this case study already, so hopefully the ideas will flow like honey.

Check in with ya peeps lata.

xx

If I were a rich girl...

2006-02-09T17:05:00.000Z

Just home from another day of work. Thursdays and Fridays I start work at 7a.m. Yes, it is ALWAYS painful waking up that early. Though, I have to admit that this morning as I sat in the passenger seat (Pete played chauffeur today) at 6:50 a.m. with my very organized purse at my feet, my to-go mug of tea in hand and two pieces of toast with jam balanced on my knee, that my heart gave a little leap of joy at the sight of the sun peaking over the horizon! Yes! It's always easier to get up early when the sun chooses to join you.

Work was work, alright, but not something I would do if not for tuition fees.

Pete and I had an intense conversation last week about what we would do with the money if we won the lottery (which we don't even play, but just hypothetically). The national lottery was up to £125 million last week...hence the speculation. My response to this question was:

-I'd pay off all our family's debts (ie. school loans)

-I'd pay off the mortgages of our parents, grandparents, buy our siblings houses (except probably not for Katie or Rach! As they are 16 and 12, but they could each buy one later!)

-Buy a house in Bristol (probably in an area called Southmead because some of our closest friends live there)...though, I have to admit, the moment I started thinking about buying a house with unlimited resources my brain immediately struggled with thinking bigger and bigger. So, having reigned in my ambitions again, I would still say a modest three bedroom terraced home in Soutmead. (Though, I would do LOADS of construction: fabulous kitchen with an Aga, make the ground floor open planned, have french doors opening onto a back garden/patio area, master bedroom with en suite and definitely a huge jacuzzi bath, and a loft conversion-with skylights- which I would make into a study/music/art/quiet retreat)

-Pay of my school loans and quit my job (both in retail and my cleaning job); but I would finish my degree in Social Work because I really do love what I do and I can't think of anything I'd rather spend the majority of my time on.

-BUT, interestingly, I would also take up private singing lessons, guitar lessons and violin lessons. Singing and guitar mainly for my own private enjoyment, but the violin lessons would be for a purspose. I have an ambition to take lessons in england and pass enough exams (they have a standardized system for assessing your competancy on various instruments here) to be eligible to join UWE's orchestra or a community orchestra. That wish surprised me a bit, I know that I love music, but I hadn't realized that I would choose to dedicate a lot of time to it if I had more time (ie. wasn't working and could afford as many lessons as I wanted).

-Buy a Smart Car. Most of the time if I'm driving I am by myself and I think it would be so cool to zip around Bristol running errands in my tiny Smart Car. mmm, maybe someday (though if it ever happened it would probably be a more basic model! )

- In reality, I have to admit that I probably would buy LOTS of clothes, shoes, coats/jackets, and Bags. Sad, but (who am I trying to kid?) true.

- I think I would probably fund One25 (charity based in Bristol) and Mutende Children's Village in Zambia (our church is involved in it) for the next 5 years.

- Fund our friends Transition to pursue their music full-time with no worries.

- But, to be honest, I'm probably forgetting loads of things and would probably spend about a year planning/thinking/praying about how to best use it. Mainly though, I'd want to have a house, take care of our family and friends and then set up some charitable trusts.

Interesting, so I ask each of you, what would YOU do with £125 million (which is a bit more than $217 million)?

Some differences in opinion from that conversation:

-Pete was surprised to hear that I'd quit my jobs if given the opportunity. He would keep his.
-Whereas I would buy a second car, Pete said: 'I wouldn't even use the car. If I had that much money I'd only use public transport'...actually, with that much money Pete could BUY the bus company.

The conversation turned really stressful around the time that we contemplated our hypothetical house in this scenario...and after about 5 minutes I was so stressed by our differences I was actually Relieved that we don't have to deal with the burden of those millions. Good thing we don't play the lottery.

Can't wait to hear your replies! xx

25

2006-01-25T21:20:00.000Z

Contrary to what my mother may fear...I am alive and well. :) Just had to tease Mom a little, as I got a text from Emma this afternoon that said: "Hahaha-just got an email from your mum to see if you have gone away for your birthday cause they haven't heard back from you! Seriously! You need to keep in touch with your family! x"

well...let me just defend myself by saying that I tried calling home twice late at night on my birthday and both times I got a busy signal. So, though I feel bad for making my Momma worry, I don't feel too badly because let's face it...as always I'm right.

Yes, I have indeed had a birthday!!!! I am now writing to you as a new and improved 25 year old!!!! I'm lovin' 25.

For all you who care (and let's face it, that's all of you), I had a great birthday! I will give you a little timeline of the day:

(some time early morning, still dark out): woke up, went back to sleep, no awareness of the date.

8a.m. - woke up, realized it was my birthday, looked at Pete and stared at him for a minute to see if he would wake up...he didn't...went back to sleep.

8:22a.m. - same as 8a.m.

8:31a.m. - same again.

8:46a.m. - woke up, and joy of joys, Pete woke up too!!!!!!!!! Yes! Received my first "Happy Birthday" of the day. He asked me if I wanted my present and I said "Yeah!" Opened my card from Pete and saw to my surprise that it was signed from not only him but also his family! Ooo, lot's of people involved in this one, it must be good!!!! Opened my present... and... inside... waaas.. AN IPOD MINI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WOW!!!!!! Couldn't BELIEVE IT!!!!!! Great present! Great Husband for getting it!!!!! Great Family!

9:05a.m. - was served breakfast in bed by Pete, he even made me coffee (and it was very good I might add...no longer will he be able to say that he doesn't know how to make it, he's given himself away).

10ish a.m. - was visited by my lovely mum-in-law Sally who dropped of an orchid plant and a card...had a nice chat.

10:30 am. - set off by car to an surprise location for our walk.

10:50a.m. - arrived in Wotten-Under-Edge and after consulting his map and directions , we found a parking space and the entrance to the footpath.

had a beautiful walk, crisp air, cloudy (but in the way that makes the world feel very still), and we actually found our way to our goal which was an enclosure of trees (planted over 200 years ago) set high on a hill overlooking Wotten-Under-Edge. It was beautiful up there, the top of the hill had benches set up in a semi-circle looking out in all different directions and there were even three horses grazing on the hilltop. (I wanted to pet them, but they seemed hungry and not in the mood for lovin')

Noon (ish) - we made our way back to Bristol in search of lunch

Found lunch at TGI Friday's (which may seem boring, but we NEVER go there and I had a craving for their fries). Lunch was soooo nice, we ate LOADS! Free refills, chicken strips and fries with ranch sauce and ketchup, great conversation, and for dessert...we shared an apple-waffle-ice cream concoction! I was sooo stuffed I felt really ill! But we rarely overeat to that extent so it felt nice to indulge. :)

2:50 p.m. - walked next door to the movie theatre and saw Brokeback Mountain (good but very very depressing...and did drag a bit towards the end).

5:30ish - Home again, curled up on the couch and read, (Pete played DS).

7:20p.m. - Pete had left for his meeting...and I set out (with a map!) to pick up my friends Hannah and Ruth for a little girls night. Got lost on the way to Hannah's

8:15p.m. - Finally picked up Hannah

8:22 pm - picked up Ruth

8:40 p.m. - arrived at a coffee bar we like called Porto Lounge...chilled out with a bottle of red wine, opened presents, laughed loads. And, we even got a free (gigantic) ice cream sundae for free in honor of my birthday. Very nice.

round 11:45 p.m. - arrived home to see Pete! Tried calling my parents (twice). Checked emails and received more birthday greetings.

just after midnight - crawled into bed...having enjoyed nearly 16 hours of my birthday with great surprises (provided by Pete), lots of cards, texts, emails, phone messages from family and friends (I love all of you!). I had a great day!

all things surprising

2006-01-18T13:30:00.000Z

ahh...sweet procrastination. love it. i'm so entrentched in what has turned into a two hour 'study break' that i won't even take the time to use proper capitalization. so there.

welcome!

well, it's wednesday afternoon...very dark outside today...i'm cold ...but i've just made a cup of tea in my very pretty tea cup and saucer with hand painted stars on it (a christmas present from my beautiful sister Katie Osborne) - oh no! i've already rebelled against my non-use of capitalization. moving on...yes, gray outside, cold inside, steaming cup of tea in front of me, nice ticking sound of the clock in the background and , laying just 8 feet away are my numerous papers, lecture notes, journal articles waiting patiently to be devoured. yeah, they've been waiting a long time.

why is studying (when you HAVE to) sooooo difficult. i love reading...absolutely, i spend hours everyday reading (we don't have a t.v.). and, i love the subjects that i study, they are generally really interesting, but somehow both of those loves are cancelled out when a deadline looms in the near future.

to show that i do still have some self-discipline left, i will say that lying just three feet from me is a very inviting bar of toblerone chocolate (one which i bought with the intention of sending it to my family at christmas, but found a couple days ago and realized it's FAR too late to send christmas tidings, even in the form of chocolate - oh well, i'll just have to eat it) but today, even as i blatently ignore my studies and have indulged in a lunch of popcorn, the remainder of a bag of doritos (cool ranch) and diet coke i have suppressed my desire to chomp away at the (seemingly) never-ending bar of toblerone. well done.

and, while i'm on the subject of things in the house and their distance from me...let me just say that roughly 27 feet away from me (it's upstairs on the floor on pete's side of the bed) is a BOX. and this is no ordinary box. i have been informed by a reliable source (pete) that this box is not to be touched, opened, weighed or in any other way examined as it contains a certain present for a certain soon-to-be-25-year-old (me). yes, it is my birthday soon! monday in fact. and only my love and passion for all things that are surprises will keep me from breaking any of the afore mentioned instructions.

ooo, but, i have glimpsed the box (accidentally i assure you) and it's size is intriguing!!!!!!!! oooooooooooooooooo...i wonder what it is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

too be perfectly honest, my enthusiasm for my birthday has unfortunately lessened under the weight of my pure anxiety over my upcoming (annoying) assessments. grrrrrr.

but, come monday, i'll have no choice but to put off all thought of my assessments as pete and i are having a birthday-day-of-fun which will include: nice breakfast, a scenic walk, perhaps a picnic lunch, a movie (adapted from a tradition i used to have in my days of singleness) and PRESENTS!

well, on that note, pete has returned with the car, so i am going to pick up my stack of studying materials and head out to coffee #1 to redeem my morning of waste with an afternoon of productivity.

peace out

17 minutes, and counting...

2006-01-14T17:42:00.000Z

17 minutes...that's how much time I have before I need to start dinner preparations for Pete & I and our good friends Niall and Hannah. Tonight's menu: a beautiful colourful salad, garlic bread (semi-homemade) and a chicken/mushroom alfredo over corkscrew pasta, served with a nice red wine. mmmm. can't wait! Having people over for dinner is my favourite because it means I can be indulgent and cook loads of food and not worry about how much fat is in it or how much time I spend making it...all in the name of hospitality.

Well, today...I dragged myself out of bed this morning at the civilized hour of 8:45...pete protested at my attempts to communicate so I left him to get back to sleep after about 10 minutes of trying to provoke his early morning wrath (no, this morning not even the most annoying behaviour would get him up, some people have no ambition). After that I worked out at my gym...right now it's my favourite thing! I go about 4-5 times a week and if I had more time, could easily go everyday because I LOVE IT. It's soooooo nice, 8 t.v.'s which can be watched from any of the fitness machines, loads of great classes, and a locker room which is outfitted in lush wood lockers and benches and even has (my dream come true) mirrors and wood countertops which run the length of the room, with little vanity stools to sit on and bright (but good) lighting AND hair dryers!

Needless to say, it is fabulous and I am hooked. So this morning, I went to attempt my new workout routine (programmed by one of the personal trainers) and surprisingly, it took me about 2 hours to do it! I did enjoy it, we've upped the intensity of my cardio workout and have added three different intensive weight routines (today was abs...and now, 7 hours later, I'm feeling it) to be rotated. It was great, but the additional hour wasn't convenient today because it meant that I was about 30 minutes late meeting Pete for our study date at Starbucks.

Yes, study date...Pete is running an hour-long seminar tomorrow at church and I have two annoying (and intimidating) "assessments" (for all you americans..."finals") coming up, which I feel grossly underprepared for. Where does all my time go??????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just don't understand! All of the weeks I thought I had and all of the study days/sessions I had planned for last week...GONE! Poof! Don't understand!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, so, to echo Fuzz's plea...to all praying people, pray that I use my time efficiently between now and the 31st!

I've gotta go, 19 minutes have passed.

A Nintendo Christmas

2005-12-29T21:36:00.000Z

Well, Christmas has come and gone, although we live in denial by continuing to play Christmas music and stare wistfully at our tree. Haven't really got many pictures of Christmas-related events, though some highlights include: our trans-atlantic Christmas present opening, courtesy of a couple of webcams; Christmas Day at the Osborne's; and this:
Yep, my new Nintendo DS with Mario Kart. And it's online, which means I get to play against punks from all round the world. Fun indeed - if anyone happens to have a copy who is reading this (which I very much doubt), post/e-mail me your friend code and we can race! Lindsay is always trying to steal my DS because she wants to play on it. I'm constantly waking up at 3am finding her sitting up in bed having a quick race. Typical...

Christmas Trees!

2005-12-09T18:13:00.000Z

Today we bought our first Christmas Tree! (That's first as in first one of being married, not first one this year - although I'm sure Lindsay would take as many as she could get.) No cutting down trees in the wood unfortunately, but we did get a nice one from the local garden centre. I was slightly disappointed with the 'machine' that wraps your tree in netting - it wasn't really a machine at all, more of a hole. I was expecting some huge contraption that not only wraps your tree, but puts all the lights and decorations on too. Never mind...

Anyway, we've got our tree up, and it's looking very nice. Feel free to come round and see it - if you can't do that here's a picture, and there are more on our Flickr photos - click the link on the sidebar.

Christmas is Cancelled (apparently)

2005-12-08T10:33:00.000Z

Apparently some of the 'mega-churches' in America are not having a Christmas Day service this year. There seems to be an awful lot of fuss about it too. Some people seem to be claiming that it is doubly bad as Christmas falls on a Sunday this year. I don't remember the last time I went to a 'church meeting' on Christmas Day. I'm sure I have been a few times, but it's certainly not a regular tradition. BCF does have one, but it tends to be fairly low-key, and I've never been.

The main reason the 'mega-churches' are giving for not having a service is that people need a break. I agree. Although, that's not good enough for some. Take Rev. Pritchard from some church in the U.S., who was shocked that his church didn't meet on Christmas Day when he moved from Australia:

"I was surprised but went with the culture," Pritchard said.
"I have a horrible suspicion it has to do with family time together, opening gifts, and I suspect also many people are traveling and they need to be on the road early to get to family gatherings."

Those half-baked Christians who want to spend time with their families, eh? I really hope that's a sarcastic comment, although I have my suspicions that it isn't. Or we could enjoy a guilt trip from Merlene Davis of the Lexington Herald who goes by the view that...

"Jesus died on a cross with nails hammered into his feet and hands to take away our sins, but we can't steal away a couple of hours to commemorate his birth on a Sunday that happens to be Christmas Day?"

Idiot. Now don't get me wrong. I do think we should 'take time out to commemorate Jesus' birth', but I don't think we need to get in a big stress about it. The problem I have with all this, is that the people who are implying that churches who don't have Christmas services are 'giving in' to the 'secular' culture, and indulging Christians as consumers who 'go' to church when they feel like it; are doing the very same thing by demanding that pastors/staff/volunteers give up their time to facilitate a service for them. 'I want a Christmas service, and I want it now!' They conviniently ignore the fact that people will have to give up half their day to put on this service. If a church (and by that I mean the people) decide they want to celebrate Jesus' birth together, then by all means, do so. But let's not demand of others that they do it all for us.

Thanksgiving

2005-11-22T21:21:00.000Z

We're heading up towards Cambridge tomorrow, to celebrate Thanksgiving with Kristi & Jamie. Should be fun - it's my first Thanksgiving!

Pete's Guide to the World Wide Web

2005-11-14T22:36:00.000Z

As Lindsay can testify, I like computers. I also like the internet. (She is not here, so I am allowed to write such things. Otherwise I would be talking to her, which I always do whenever we're together. I don't go on the internet when she's trying to talk to me. No, never. That's bad, kids - don't do that when you get married.)

Anyway, on with the post. I thought I give you avid blog readers a little treat, (depending on your interpretation of that word). I call it, 'Pete's Guide to the World Wide Web'. So, make yourself a cup of tea; get a few chocolate digestive or rich tea biscuits; open a new tab/window in your web browser; and enjoy the ride!

Our first stop on this great journey starts with the last sentence. If you didn't know what I meant by opening a new 'tab', you have not had the pleasure of using Firefox. The World's Greatest Web Browser. You'll never go back to that pile of junk that is Internet Explorer again. Of course the best way to understand what I'm talking about is to try it. So, give it a go, download it. If you don't like it (and I can't understand why you wouldn't) you can always uninstall it. Since we need to continue on our whistle-stop tour I won't go into more detail, but I'd be very happy to explain the fantastic features of this brilliant (and did I mention, FREE) web browser to anyone who asks.

Ok, moving on... My favourite web site of the moment has to be the marvellous Wikipedia. This online, free encyclopedia is the best place to find out about, well, pretty much anything. I, for example, have spent many happy hours finding out about such exciting things as the London Underground, U.S. Highway Systems, and Traffic Lights, to name but a few things. Not only is it a fountain of knowledge, but... click on an article for me... now see the tab at the top of the page, labelled 'edit this page'? Click on that... Yes, that's right, you can edit the article. This encyclopedia is created and maintained by me and you (well, maybe not literally, but you know what I mean). Some people will be struck with horror by that idea. I, for one, think it's brilliant. Who, after all, knows the most about Lots of Things? Lots of People of course. It's also well moderated, so don't be afraid about the quality of information you're getting. Just sit back and enjoy. Or share your own knowledge on a subject with others! Or tidy up their spelling!

Ok, on we go... I seem to have a habit of finding things on the Internet which cost money, sighing because I really like them but can't afford them, and then a few months later finding they have been bought by Google and made free! You've got to love Google. My favourite of these, and probably my favourite program (as opposed to website) is Google Earth. You need a broadband connection to use it, and it's not yet available outside of the Windows world, but it is truly fantastic. I 'invented' this program in my mind long before I found out it actually existed. Upon starting Google Earth, you are presented with a 3D globe of the earth. You can spin it round, see different countries etc, all good fun... And then you see a little search bar on the page. So you type in an address... and the earth shoots up towards you at an alarming rate. Closer, closer, closer. Country, city, street, house. "There's the house of that person I know. In fact that might actually be their car. Hmmm, now I think I'll go off to Taiwan. Now Sydney. Now Johannesburg." Yeah, it's not quite 'Enemy of the State' live cameras, and it doesn't (yet) have a lot of the world outside major cities, but it is immensely fun, and I could (and do) spend hours on it.

Well, I could go on, and maybe some other time I will. But, I'll leave you with that for today. If you're still reading, well done. If not, well you're not reading, so I can say what I like to you. I'm off to Hong Kong, and then bed.

Extortion at the library...

2005-11-09T17:59:00.000Z

hello, well, i am back from a day at uni...having cycled in the cold and dark i am now tucked away in a cozy sweater, my slippers donned, with a glass of wine in front of me, my husband beside me, and soothing christmas music on in the background...the goodness of life has been restored.

i don't know how many of you know this, but i am a student rep for my year of my degree. which basically means that i occasionally have to attend boring meetings. i say 'boring', but to be honest, they are interesting, i just resent spending three hours in a meeting. so, this afternoon was the latest occasion of one of these gatherings...i tried to get one of the other reps to go, but everyone had an actual excuse, making mine (which consisted of 'i-really-want-to-go-home-and-take-a-nap' seem small). this morning, i woke up thinking, 'i hate meetings! so pointless and stupid!'...and cycling to uni that became my mantra. arrived at my lecture, feeling resigned to my fate, but happy that i didn't have to face my meeting for 4 more hours, only to discover that the topic of our lecture was 'running effective meetings'...right, three hours on what makes a successful meeting, power dynamics of meetings, theories behind meetings/group work, blah blah blah, blah-stinkin'-blah.

so, i have spent six hours of my day dedicated to meetings.

in other adventures at uni, yesterday i managed to finally set aside all of my procrastination and denial and return four library books that i've had out since september! oooh, i was dreading that moment, i even had to ask pete for the cheque book (always a bad sign, library fines should always be payable by whatever change you have in your pocket...there should be a law about these things). walked into the library at uni, took one last big breath and mustered all the dignity i could find as i set my humble stack down and said, 'i need to return these and i'm afraid i probably have quite a big fine'. (WHY do i always feel the need to apologize to the librarian for the inconvenience/shame of incurring a fine...they should be thanking ME, i am giving them money afterall!) ... then...moment of truth...as he scanned in the first book... ever so nonchalantly he said (with a smile...jerk) 'yeah, that'll be £28.53' ...oh, my life! wanted to exclaim, 'pete is gonna kill me!' but with all these social workers around one can't make idle mention of domestic violence...so kept me mouth shut.

Holidays...

2005-11-07T13:07:00.000Z

We do have a reason for not blogging for a while - we've been on holiday to Ireland! We spent a week in a big house on a small island, called 'Island Roy' (check out this map). We played a lot of games - Killer Bunnies, and Settlers being the highlights, (in my opinion), even though I never won a game! (There were 8 of us - 10 at the beginning of the week - so that might have had something to do with it!)

Beaches; cliffs; 3 hour drives which supposedly should have taken 1 hour; getting up late; games, games, games; DVDs on a big screen; lots of food - all in all a great week with some great people. We've set up a Flickr account, which we've put some photos on - more to come soon. You can access it here or by clicking on one of the photos in the sidebar to the right.

More stories to come - Lindsay has promised to write a blog soon!

Ye Olde Roads

2005-10-21T07:36:00.000+01:00

So, the other day I decided to walk to Thornbury (about 5 miles) instead of taking the bus (Lindsay had the car). I have driven down that road so many times, yet there are so many things I've never noticed before. Big, old houses set back from the road (a bit like ours), and roads with very odd names. The two I liked best were somewhat strangely called 'Washingpool Hill Road', and 'Silverhill Brake'. (Yes, I have spelt the second one correctly.) I'll take photos when I can, but just to prove I'm not making all this up, have a look on google maps.

You can imagine the history of the first one, can't you? Obviously back in the 'olden days', women would carry the day's dirty laundry down the hill to the pool at the bottom, where everyone communally washed their clothes. Or something slightly more imaginative perhaps. Well anyway, I didn't have a clue what 'Silverhill Brake' was supposed to mean. So I typed it into google... And it didn't tell me what it meant, but it did tell me this:

Apparently there used to be a school there, called (shockingly) 'Silverhill School'. I was also informed that

The application for a mobile snack bar in the A38 lay by near Silverhill Brake has been withdrawn.

Many of the residents (at least 5 in that road) want to build extensions to their houses, and apparently there is a 'Silverhill' in Alabama.

The internet is indeed a strange and interesting place...

Lindsay wants an iPod [anger managment]

2005-10-15T19:00:00.000+01:00

Why does Lindsay want an iPod, you may ask? Well, the clue is in the title... Lindsay currently has a cheap little personal CD player, which skips every time she even raises an eyebrow (slight exaggeration on my part). Now, as she listens to audiobooks while she does her cleaning each week (for 2 hours), you can imagine that the cd player skips an awful lot. And boy does this make Lindsay mad (as you can see from the photo). I just asked Lindsay if she hurt herself in her Rage Against The Machine, to which she replied, 'no, but I hurt the Holy Spirit'.

So, why an iPod? Well, they don't skip, and so would help Lindsay to stop endangering her salvation. Your prayers are requested!

Resident Aliens

2005-10-12T15:58:00.000+01:00

Well, since Lindsay has got back into this blogging thing, I thought I'd do the same...

I've been reading a great and quite provocative book recently called 'Resident Aliens'. It was written in the late 80s, and is very poignant today. Much of my university education (in Youth & Community Work and Applied Theology, in case you didn't know) was about 'meeting people where they're at', about making the gospel relevant to them etc. These are great things, and require serious thought - so often we confuse people with our jargon and irrelevance. And anyone who says these kind of things (relevancy etc.) are bad, isn't really thinking straight. For example, if we were to change nothing about the words Jesus spoke, we would all be speaking in Aramaic.

But, and this is a big but, I think much of my education (and thinking) along these lines has gone too far. 'Resident Aliens' talks about how we are called to live as a 'Christian colony' - not in a ghetto, but as though our home is 'not of this world'. Our calling as a church is, first and foremost, to worship Christ. I guess it's kind of obvious, but reading the book has made me think a lot about how we present the gospel, and how I live as a Christian. I've run youth events before, where I chose not to do certain things we might normally do as church (e.g. really getting into worship) because there were people there who weren't Christians, and I didn't want to freak them out.

Although I think there is something to be said for this, applying this method to the way we live effectively means that we aren't really different from people who are not Christians. In trying to make things friendly to people, we don't present the huge contrast that Jesus' message creates with the world around us - instead we pick out the things that will most appeal to people, in order to draw them in. Yet it seems to have the effect of dumbing down the gospel - Christians become just 'nice people', no-one really knows what Christians stand for. We start making 'converts' who don't even know they're supposed to follow Jesus.

So, if you get a chance - read the book! It's by Stanley Hauerwas, and William Willimon (a slightly unfortunate name in my opinion).

seized by immigration

2005-10-11T22:08:00.000+01:00

i'm at uni...bored. so bored this morning. sat through 3 hours of immigration laws/rights of people who are not citizens. couldn't help feeling slightly conspicuous everytime the word 'immigrant' was used. could feel people staring at me thinking, 'wonder if lindsay is legal?!' 'should i turn her in?' 'wonder if her "marriage" is legit?'

ohhh, my life. it's hard being 'foreign' and oppressed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

back to how boring it was...have to actually Go BACK for more tortureous, HOT roomed, lecturing...2 more HOURS!!! oh, save me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

also, have one of those lecturers who makes a BIG point of creating these 'rules of conduct' on the first day, you know, respecting eachother, turn your phone off, confidentiality, and all that crap. she made a big point of saying 'the only stupid questions are the ones not asked!' BUT everytime someone asks something, she practically throws you out of the class! not really, but, she does blatently NOT answer any questions, it's almost funny...just because it annoys her i may have to start asking INTENTIONALLY stupid questions. that would at least keep me awake!

oh the joys of learning.

sat there today, after having been shot down for asking a question that was 'not on today's topic', thinking, 'am i wasting my time?' 'maybe i will never be fit to be a social worker' 'maybe i'm not even fit for any career!!!!! i'm unemployable!'

did come up with a cunning plan to hide from these truths: continue being a student, forever. seriously though, as stressful as uni sometimes seems, it's so easy to go through years of your life without REALLY thinking about what abilities you have...it's very easy to APPEAR successful academically and therefore give yourself that nightly pat on the back of 'i'm brilliant, because i can bull***t my way through countless essays, i could do AnyThing!!!!!!!!!!!!!'

am realizing this is probably not true.

can't believe that in three years i'll be expected to be competant!! and responsible for making decisions!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hate it.

yes, blogging during the day...love it.

this is soooo theraputic!

TESCO

had an unfortunate incident at TESCO (the evil giant supermarket which i have sold my soul/purchasing power to)...

went out saturday morning with the intent of getting milk and cheese puffs (i know they're disgusting, but i find them so comforting!) but before i made it out the door i spotted our tesco 'extra points vouchers' (you know the kind? where they entice you to buy products you don't need by telling you that they will give you 100 BILLION points for buying diapers and so you buy them). so, i picked up the vouchers (which i noticed were about to expire) and decided to use them.

went to tesco, spent 30 minutes longer than neccessary just finding these voucher items and picking out appropriate items (just for your reading pleasure, i will illustrate below:)

voucher type:

-"laudry powder (any kind)" ... i bought my favourite enviro friendly 'ecover' laundry powder.

-"bread (includes in-store bakery)" ...i bought a large baguette and a bag of white chocolate cookies from the 'in-store bakery'.

-"salad" ...i bought romaine lettuce and a bag of baby spinach

THEN, i thought, oh, now that i've gotten a baguette, why don't i get some yummy hummous to go with.

got the hummous and about 3 other items i had to pass in order to get it (those items obviously just jumped in my hand basket).

get up to the checkout wondering how i managed to fill a basket to overflowing when all i really NEEDED was MILK...but felt slightly better as managed to fit all my groceries in one bag (surely the number of bags you walk out with should be in proportion to the amount you spent?) and had that satisfying smug feeling of handing over my Vouchers at the end.

handed over vouchers...laundry voucher went through...bread/in-store bakery voucher DENIED! asked her why?

store clerk: you only bought a baguette, that's 50p less than what you have to spend for the voucher.

me: but, what about the cookies from the IN-STORE (in my head, "frickin") BAkERY???

store clerk: no, it's only for bread

then salad voucher goes through...DENIED!

store clerk (sooo helpful in her observations): you didn't spend enough on salad to use the voucher.

me: what about the spinach?

store clerk (i promise i'm not making this up!): well, lettuce is salad, but spinach is, you know, more like a vegetable.

seriously, i wanted to scream. AND, since this is my chance to rant, let me just say that only ignorant people who think that a 'salad' is something made entirely of Iceburg lettuce, cheese and bacon bits would be so ridiculous as to think that spinach doesn't belong in one!!!!!!!

rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

anyway, long and short is that i was standing there stunned into silence and compliance, with a LINE of people behind me...so i felt like i HAD to obediantly pay for my (mostly unneccessary) food and leave!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

oh the injustice!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh the SHAME!!!!!!!!!!!! (aka Confessions)

2005-09-30T21:26:00.000+01:00

I am very very very sorry...I am a bad friend, a TERRIBLE pen pal...I don't even deserve to have an email address. much less a phone number.

has been soooo long since i have have updated our blog that i couldn't even remember the address or how to go about accessing this strange phenomenon called a 'blog'. am constantly being pestered by various friends about my absolute 'PANTS-ness' (i won't translate, but that's not good) at keeping a blog.

i think i just get overwhelmed at the thought of sharing myself with potentially so many people. even people i don't KNOW...eww, if you are reading this and you don't know me...go now, go. no, jk. stay, have a chat.

where to begin...

Inspiration

i was inspired to write this long awaited post because i received an email from my favourite big brother. asking loads of questions about my life and telling me all about his. awesome. reading that left this big ache in my heart...so i went to his blog (which i had forgotten about!). and in the links of Chris's blog i saw EJ's blog listed (which i didn't know existed either!)...so i went there. and read/skimmed EJ's recent postings and thought, 'right, i need to pull myself together and make an EFFORT to communicate with the world again.' so, thanks to both of you...my inspiration for this evening.

My Day

it's been alright...i worked at Monsoon (women's clothing store, tres chique) this morning from 7 (stinkin) a.m. until 11. (yes, it is painful to be awake that early) and then had coffee with a friend of a friend visiting bristol from switzerland...very nice. and then i read some of the paper (called The Independent...which am slightly amused by because that was the name of my high school news paper) over lunch. and then, the heaven's rejoiced with me as i crawled into bed at 2:45p.m. to give my eyes a wee rest. they decided to rest for over three hours. glorious. finally woken by pete who was probably wondering if i was still alive.

so, finally feel a bit more rested. which is good, because i have discovered (as i AGE) that i am a person who values my sleep.

but, now it's the evening, and pete is away (baptising young people no less) and i have stayed behind to clean the church office (which i do once a week) but strangely enough, have not actually managed to leave the computer.

and anyway, i need to stay home and finish my FABULOUS post!

Recent Mishaps

recently i came home from a trip to norway (i've been to NORWAY!) and spent about a week in total confusion (in my sleep). i'll explain: while in norway (on a trip with my university) i stayed in an apartment with 3 other students. i shared a room with a guy called simon. well...i think i must have been slightly anxious during that trip, afraid i would do something embarrassing in my sleep, etc. because my first week back with pete and in our home, i kept getting completely confused in my sleep...for instance, woke up my first night back needing to use the toilet. pete hadn't gone to sleep yet and was working away on his laptop next to me. EVEN though it LOOKED like our bedroom, even though it looked like our bed, even though he looked like pete, in my sleepy state i lay there CONVINCED that i was still in norway and that that was simon, not pete. i lifted the covers slightly (saw that i was only wearing undies and a tank top) and thought 'oh no! where did my pj's go? how did that happen? how am i going to get up to use the toilet, simon's going to see me!' lay there saying some of these comments outloud and pete continued to type away glancing at me out of the corner of his eye...took me a good five minutes to think through the situation and realize that i was actually home.

that happened (in various forms) almost every night that first week back. i got up and CHANGED my clothes 3 or 4 times in the middle of the night that week. completely convinced everytime that i was still in norway.

how strange.

NORWAY

was in norway for 10 trip with uni. we (4 students and 1 lecturer) went to participate in an international student social work conference to discuss 'service user involvement'. was pretty good. norway is beyond gorgeous! would love to go back and explore further, it's such a big country and it seems very unspoilt. the conference was interesting enough and meeting/hanging out with the other 15 students from norway, italy, and hungary was awesome. they were hilarious.

This photo was taken at the top of one of the mountains surrounding Bergen, Norway. i would really like to go back up into the mountains with pete and some friends and go camping up there...away from everything. you are allowed to pitch a tent anywhere in norway (as long as it's a certain distance from any buildings).

2005-04-25T19:49:00.001+01:00

The Breakfast Room.

2005-04-25T19:49:00.000+01:00

A bedroom.

2005-04-25T19:48:00.000+01:00

A six foot deep 'cold water plunge bath' - very odd. Across between a swimming pool and a bath!

2005-04-25T19:47:00.000+01:00

Lindsay reading about the first kitchen.

2005-04-25T19:46:00.000+01:00

Today we went to Georgian House, down on Park Street. It dates from the 18th Century and is (almost) like it was then. Here's the second kitchen...

2005-03-30T18:49:00.001+01:00

Lindsay staring thoughtfully into space.

2005-03-30T18:49:00.000+01:00

A sunset walk...

2004-12-07T16:46:00.001Z

Pete BEFORE his haircut...

2004-12-07T16:46:00.000Z

... and Pete AFTER his haircut!

2004-11-27T17:13:00.000Z

View over the River Severn (taken by Pete thankyouverymuch)

Done and Dusted

2004-11-27T17:10:00.000Z

Well, I (Pete) finished my essays today, which is great. My academic term is now all but over (meaning I have no work left). Now, I can look forward to Christmas. Ahhhh.... America. Land of wide roads and big billboards. I can't wait. Lindsay talks about Michael's frozen custard every 5 seconds. Somewhat obsessive, I feel.

Just to give you a taste our exciting, lively social life - tonight Lindsay will be cutting my hair. Yes, 3 months has given me a bit of a shaggy look (Linz nods in agreement). Unfortunately I am not allowed to cut her hair - the deal does not go both ways. A shame, as my talents in hair dressing are soon to be discovered, and will one day be world renowned.

It's starting to get cold here, though the weather icon on our computer tells us it is always 50 F, day and night. It's all psychological I tell you. We watched Big Fish last night - I was struck by the similarities between the film and my own life, especially the part where the car gets stuck in the top of the tree. We plan to visit the cinema at least twice a day when we come back to the States, so when we return to this little quaint country we can gloat to our 'friends' about all the films they won't see for 12 years.

So that's life right now. We'll be seeing you all soon!

Pete (definitely not Linz)

2004-11-20T15:36:00.000Z

Lindsay in her wellies! This was taken at Blaise Castle on a very wet, windy and cold November walk.

Autumn Walk...reflections from Monday

2004-10-25T20:53:00.000+01:00

Hi guys-
Listen, family, you can leave comments on this if you want to. We'd like to hear from you. It's nearly 9p.m. now, I'm playing with importing photos onto the computer (I'm still learning how it all works!). Pete is across the drive at a leader's meeting and I'm burning off the coffee in my body...hoping not to be up all night! :) I hope as you read this that you've had a good day.
Today has been pretty good. I have the week off from college (or "uni"), which I'm enjoying. I can't believe it's almost November. As I look at my calendar it all seems like one big blur of activity and deadlines between now and my flight home for Christmas. Unbelievable how quickly a month can pass!
Something I'm working on in my course at UWE...we have to keep a logbook, it's a sort of journal in which we reflect on aspects of social work, some of the challenges that face a social worker. That's been my main activity today. Sometimes I almost find it more challenging to write in a personal style (like in the logbook)...it's difficult not to get really emotional in answering some of the questions which we're supposed to address. The one I find particularly tough is a question of "what are some of the reasons you've chosen to go into social work?" Wow! Hard to be concise and narrow it down to just a few things. It feels a bit like someone is asking me to write in 400 words what the goal of my life is.
So other than studying, one of the highlights of my day was having lunch with Pete (seeing eachother at lunch is one of the perks of his office being a 10 second walk from our home). And the photo which corresponds is from a lunchtime walk we took. As you can see, some of the leaves are turning...but they seem to be about 50/50 right now. Last night the wind was howling, we definitely lost quite a bit of colour in that wind. But I'm hoping to still get the last half of the trees as they turn.
Last Saturday night Andy was over for dinner and a night of playing the game "Killer Bunnies" along with friends of our Jesse and Julianne. It's so fun to have him here. For those of you who are wondering how he's doing...he seems to be doing really well. Everytime I see him he is in the midst of a 'pack' of friends. He's definitely making friends quickly. Sunday night we have a meeting called "Aardvark" which is a gathering of people between the ages of 17 and 25 from the church and from the colleges. Andy, Pete and I were all there and one of the activities involved splitting into four groups in which each group had to make up a skit and act it out in front of the rest of the group. Pete, Andy and I each ended up in different groups and there was some intense competition going on for the best skit (the prize at stake was a bag of chocolates...and respect of course). I have to say, Andy's group was hilarious. Their skit involved Andy acting as the host of t.v. show entitled, "The Andy Pollasch late, late, late...so late night, it's early morning show"...in which he all kinds of strange escapades unfolded. But he was a great host. :) Unfortunately for both Andy and I, Pete's group won the skit competition, probably mainly due to Pete's performance as an Armidillo (I'm sure he'd be happy to repeat his role for you some time).
Goodness, I've just realized how LONG this post is...so I'll end here. But just wanted to take the opportunity to write and say hello. I love you all, Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, Kelly, Greg, Deisel, Chris and SARAH!! We really miss you...as great as it is here...it would be such a treat to just have an afternoon with all of you. I look forward to that!

2004-10-25T20:52:00.000+01:00

Autumn Walk

2004-10-25T16:25:00.000+01:00

You don't see this very often... A seven die stack. By Pete.

M68 Lunch

2004-10-21T20:42:00.000+01:00

Andy at the M68 Lunch

Honeymoon Photo

2004-10-21T15:36:00.000+01:00

This is my favourite photo from our honeymoon in Whales. :) In this photo Pete and I were walking along the Pembrookshire Coastal Path. It was VERY windy/misty/cold and we were the only ones out. Then, coming up the path behind us we saw a couple walking, completely decked out in "gortex-like" clothing...very funny contrast to Pete and I who had on normal clothes like jeans, fleeces and wellington boots. The gortex couple passed us by with a disdainful look and soon after we headed into the town of Cardigan for a hot lunch.

Rainy/sunny/rainy... afternoon

2004-10-21T15:10:00.000+01:00

Hey guys, Lindsay here, making my first ever post. So far Pete has had all of the fun on this website. :) It is a rainy afternoon (off and on) and I'm currently procrastinating on doing the dishes! Last night Pete and I watched the film "Fahrenheit 9/11" for the first time. Very thought provoking. I have to say that I am greatful for all of the criticism that I had heard about this film...that made me feel I could watch it without taking it as undisputed fact. Still, if you haven't seen the film, it could be worth the money to rent it.

The good/bad news is that I have started to feel inklings of home-sickness. I still feel very good about our decision to live here, but I've started to feel some of the "reality" of that decision. I think more than anything, being in a foreign country has shown me how independent I was in the USA. It's strange to think about going out on my own and hitting a mental wall - a reminder that, "oh wait, I don't know how to get there." or "I don't feel comfortable driving in that part of the city yet", or even "I have no idea where I would go for that item", etc. Maybe that doesn't seem like a big deal...it's just what has been on my mind in the past week or two. This feeling of tedious "relearning". I have to say though, despite moments of frustration, that I enjoy getting this opportunity to observe what it's like to step into the unfamiliar.

Earth from the Air

2004-10-19T16:37:00.000+01:00

A Saturday or so ago, we went to the 'Earth from the Air' exhibition in Bristol. It consisted of over 100 enlarged photos of places all around the world, taken from the air. It was outside, and it was great fun to walk around looking at the pictures and read the stories behind the photos. If you click on the title of this post, it will take you to the photographer's website, where you can see some of his pictures.

Untidy Spider

2004-10-17T10:13:00.000+01:00

Most recent picture on our camera: The spider whose web blocked the path to the bins.

First Post

2004-10-16T17:07:00.000+01:00

We thought this would be a good way to share our experiences with people, and keep everyone up to date - especially those of you who live 'over the pond'. Feel free to click on the 'comments' link below each post and leave your thoughts for all to read!

Enjoy!

Pete and Linz