DIY d-a-y

Recently, Jordan and I have decided that we are most likely going to stay in Oxford 2 years instead of 1. As a result of God giving me a great job, Jordan loving Medical Anthropology, me getting a deferral for PA school, and us being afforded this incredible opportunity, it was a perfect storm for staying here in Oxford for another year of cream tea instead of sweet tea. 

With that being said, some of you may or may not remember some of the pictures I posted on facebook of our flat on the first day we moved in...  The luscious two-toned green carpet, luxurious green couch, mysterious stains sprinkled throughout, just your average student couples flat in Oxford.  When we moved in I kept suppressing this new found-wanna-be-homemaker in me, and kept thinking, its no big deal- we are only going to live here for one year, I'll save my decorating yearnings for when we move back home.  But with the thought of being here 2 years, I have now realized it is time to unshackle the yearning to try and spruce this place up.  I have had this one DIY project in the back of my mind and with the blessing of a little down time between Christmas and our trip to Spain, we decided it was time.

Me: "Jordan, what would you think if tomorrow was DIY day?"
Jordan: "You mean DIY d-a-y? Sounds good"

And we were off.  The project was really simple, I found an old broken frame at one of the shops here in town and fabric at Cath Kidston was on sale, so I wanted to upholster the backing on it so we could use it like a bulletin-boardish type of thing.  At one point Jordan was helping me upholster the fabric to the wood with one of those really girly little hammers with flowers all over it (it was the only tool we could pack with us) and I couldn't help but ask him, "Have you ever felt more married than right now?  Using a floral hammer to pin floral fabric to a piece of wood for a DIY project?" he just laughed and said " Well when you put it that way..."

Here is the fruit of our labor

our tag team upholstery skillz:

Anyone out there who has any suggestions, great resources or encouragement for decorating their first, rented home together- I would LOVE to hear from you!

Oh and last but not least, Happy New Years!

My Favorite Oxford Street Musicians

My favorite street musicians in Oxford

Please don't judge by the very blurry video that I found on youtube, this group is absolutely awesome. They have an old Italian Godfather-esque sound from the accordion mixed with jazzy New Orleans upbeat trumpet. I haven't talked to them at all but it seems as though its a dad and two brothers along with a few other family members. Katie typically has to drag me down Cornmarket Street to get me away from standing directly in front of them and tossing pounds into their open saxophone case. This is one of my favorite parts of Oxford, walking down Cornmarket with open ears. Today while enjoying my new favorite activity, sitting in the bookstore reading an unpurchased book, the theme of  "The Godfather" drifted into the coffee shop. One of those surreal feelings of living life accompanied by a soundtrack.

World's Numba 1 Husband

I just wanted to take a moment and boast on what an incredible husband I have been blessed with (cheezy, I know).  Not only has he tended to every crazy request I have had as I have been under the weather, or not minded the mound of tissues that has accumulated on my side of the bed, or been anything but sweet when my cough wakes him up at night, but he also hooked us up with wireless internet today! Which might seem like not that exciting, but we have been sharing one ether net cord between the two of us at home and we are pumped. 

One thing that has taken time to adjust to is not having a car.  Anytime you buy something, groceries, laundry bins, clothes,whatever you have to figure out how to get it home.  In my attempts to decorate our little flat, I have been eying this old frame for a little DIY project.  Anyways, guess who carried this huge frame and cold medicine through the snow for me today? You guessed it, my man.

I cannot imagine being on this crazy adventure without Jordan.  He has been my best mate and I have cherished and loved every minute of being his wife these past (almost) 4 months. 

Snowy Christmas

A snowy Christmas in England found Katie and I alongside some of our good friends in Devon, England. We ate well, drank well, hiked the moors, and played some Monopoly (My favorite). It was a wonderful first Christmas together and as we exchanged gifts with one another we marked another first in our budding relationship.

I have included a few pictures from our jaunt through the Moors. As we were driving along an old country road we saw a Tor (Big pile of granite rock atop a large hill) and decided it would be unwise not to climb to the top while in Devon on Christmas Eve. With camera in tow we began walking through a dense snow covered pine forest that eerily resembled the Belgian forests depicted in the Battle of the Bulge.

Through rows of trees our boots plodded on bushes, branches, logs, and the occasional creek iced over, giving way to some wet feet. Emerging from the tall pine forest we entered what would be dubbed "Christmas Tree Forest".

Crawling under some low hanging branches we finally came to a light at the end of the forest and began the ascent up the hill.

Breaking the tree line we were met with a bath of heat from the bright sun. After shedding scarves and hats we hiked up the last little bit through knee deep snow to the top of the Tor.

It was a beautiful scene that I tried to capture with the camera, however pictures rarely can do nature its full just. Here are a few we snapped during the trip, there are some more on Facebook along with some pictures from our adventures to Wales.

Back in the UK

After a far too short visit to America, we are back in Oxford. However, after arriving in England we have no idea how we actually got here considering the enormous amount of snow that was sitting on our doorstep. We will post some pictures when we get them uploaded but snow in Oxford is wonderful. The trip to the US was great we got to open presents with our families, visit with some friends, and most of all eat Mexican food (There is no Mexican food in Britain, its terrible).

On our trip back to England we were laid over for 6 hours in Charlotte and occupied our time in two comfy leather chairs in a Borders at the airport (most comfortable layover I have ever had). I should preface this part of the story with the knowledge that while being laid over in Heathrow en route to the US, I stood in a bookstore and read a few chapters of Decision Points by President Bush. Only to find myself back in a bookstore again reading a few more chapters of the same book, feeling strongly both times to just buy it, but frugally submitting to my thrifty nature. Really interesting memoirs especially his autobiographical account of Sept. 11 and Hurricane Katrina.

However, arriving back in Oxford we were greeted with loads of snow to our aesthetic delight and transportation discontent. Oxford, and as it seems much of England, does not quite have the knack of clearing snow. In fact they do very little about it at all, even after a week, still there. Roads with high levels of traffic are fine simply due to cars turning the snow into brownish black slush that is moved to the side. However, back roads and sidewalks are matted with inches of hardened slick snow packed down by walkers. Needless to say getting around on a bike is a bit dicey but I find it quite fun to ride in the snow slipping all around, as long as there are no cars in near proximity.

We will try to be a bit better about posting, but lets be honest we're just lazy about it. Merry Christmas Eve soon.

The Valley of Vision

Katie and I have been going through some times of uncertainty recently, and it has been a time for contemplation and prayer. As we have been seeking out God's calling in our lives we have returned to an old Puritan prayer brought to us by our good friend Meagan Gibson.

As is often the case, many of us struggle with the same difficulties during the same periods of time but we resist the vulnerability to share with one another our burdens. Hopefully this prayer will speak to some in the same way that it speaks to Katie and I and has spoken to many others.

The Valley of Vision

Lord, High and Holy, Meek and Lowly,

Thou Hast brought me to the valley of vision,

Where I live in the depths but see thee in the heights;

Hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold thy glory

Let me learn by paradox

That the way down is the way up,

That to be low is to be high,

That the broken heart is the healed heart,

That the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,

That the repenting soul is the victorious soul,

That to have nothing is to possess all,

That to bear the cross is to wear the crown,

That to give is to receive,

That the valley is the place of vision.

Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from the deepest wells,

and the deeper the wells the brighter thy stars shine;

Let me find thy light in my darkness,

Thy life in my death,

Thy joy in my sorrow,

Thy grace in my sin,

Thy riches in my poverty,

Thy glory in my valley.

Hodge Podge of Stuff

Just a quick update from the last couple of very eventful days.

- Thanksgiving in Britain was great I spent most of the day at Rhodes House in the kitchen preparing mass quantities of Mac'n'Cheese, Mashed Potatoes, Sweet Potato Casserole, and assorted other goodies for the Thanksgiving festivities that night. Nearly a hundred scholars joined together at the Rhodes House that night for a great evening of giving thanks. We got to introduce the holiday to a number of our Australian friends which was tons of fun.

- I also competed in the Christ Church Rowing Regatta in Oxford starting last Wednesday and ending on Friday. It is one of the largest regattas in the world and is only for novice boats (aka people who have only been rowing for about 2 months). It was a great time, Katie came down and watched the races on the river and cheered her heart out for me, which hearkened to old days of swimming. It was a seriously cold sport but tons of fun. We won our first two matches pretty easily, but our third match was a very close race that came down to the last 200 meters. The cox called for a "push for 10"(10 really hard strokes) and the seat of the man sitting behind me popped off the runners and the rhythm and balance of the boat was totally thrown off. He continued to row from the seat of his pants, but we ended up losing the race. However, the experience was well worth it.

- Following our enormous Thanksgiving feast on Thursday night we had to step up our game to enjoy the Iron Bowl Friday night with a country Thanksgiving tailgate. We cooked up Mom's sweet potato casserole, Mrs. Watson's green been casserole, cranberry salad, pecan pie, and two of our friends from Texas came over and cooked some sausage rolls. After stuffing ourselves, yet again, we watched an incredible Iron bowl on a tiny computer screen in our living room. The funny thing about watching American TV on your computer over here is that you only get to watch the same two commercials at every break. So we know every second of the Coke Zero "Time Machine" and Nissan Maxima "We're having a baby!" commercials.

- On Sunday we woke up early with the intentions of traveling to Bath to see the Christmas markets with our friends Tom and Kira. Little did we know, the train system runs a little slow on Sundays. Upon finally arriving in Bath 4 hours later we were left with about 40 minutes to peruse the town before heading back to the train for the ride home. Although short, the trip was wonderful and Bath was an absolutely beautiful place to visit, especially if you like to shop.

- Finally, the last listing in our hodge podge compilation of the past couple day's events was my Birthday yesterday. It was an awesome birthday, and one that didn't involve two long arduous swim practices for a change. However, on a more nostalgic note, I did miss going to Cracker Barrel with all my best friends in the world. Instead Katie and I went to dinner at an Italian restaurant and then returned to the flat for unbelievably tasty chocolate cake made from scratch (Not too unlike the coca-cola chocolate cake served at the Old Country Store). Following cake, we made our way up to the local pub close to our flat and were joined by probably 30 or 40 friends who came to hang out and celebrate with a few ales.

It was an awesome time and we both returned to the house at midnight thanking God for such a wonderful life.The last couple weeks have been a roller coaster of up and down victory and defeat but we are learning so much through our experiences. God has given us the amazing opportunity of living life together and learning from mistakes and failures. We cherish every moment we have here and look forward to seeing everyone sometime soon.

Thanksgiving Away

Just a little reading for your Thanksgiving celebrations as we cope with Thanksgiving in a country that doesn't have a day for giving thanks.

Here in Oxford there are no pilgrims or indians or Godzilla size balloons of Pikachu or rival football games or black friday or pecan pie. There is just the normal day of packing lunch, saddling the bike for work, going to class, listening to a seminar on obesity, Katie working 9-5, and us both coming back together at the end of another day. However, Katie and I will be fixing up our own Thanksgiving dinner with some close American friends on Friday while watching the Iron Bowl (Auburn vs Alabama) on a computer screen WAR EAGLE!

During our first 10 weeks in England there have been brief moments of aching for home, missing relationships and luxuries that are not here in England. There have been tears shed wishing to have all the wonderful friends captured in our wedding pictures transplanted to Oxford right along side us, bringing with them American TV, a year's worth of deli meat, and a working shower (ours was broken for two weeks). But this feeling has never been so strong as of late with the Thanksgiving holiday approaching.

We both miss our families and the great times shared over holiday feasting. I miss reuniting with my brothers and peanut, reminiscing and catching up over a few beers on the front porch. I miss going to a movie with the family after being stuffed with food all day and then returning to catch the end of a football game on TV. But most of all I miss sitting in the living room playing music with the family and singing the same songs that we always sing enjoying each others company and the precious time we have to spend together. Life is wonderful here in Oxford but it would be great to see some familiar faces this holiday.

Love you all

and

Happy Thanksgiving

Jordan and Katie

A Wale of a Good Time

Apologies for the long delayed response time on the blog. It has been a crazy couple of weeks filled with rowing practice, debates, essays, and all sorts of social fun. However, two weeks ago Katie and I took a trip to Aberystwyth, Wales and had a great time exploring the western coastal country of Wales. Although, our trip getting to Wales was a bit more interesting. We left work/class at 5:00PM heading for the rail station in Oxford with tickets to have us arrive in Wales at 11:00PM. Bags on our backs and tickets in hand we sat at the Oxford station waiting for the train for an hour. With an anticipatory vision of either the Polar Express or the Hogwarts Express in mind we watched as our train approached and stopped in front of us packed to the brim with people standing like cows in a transport. The train was overcrowded due to a train failure earlier in the day, which explained the delay, however my first train ride was spent standing pushed against the bathroom door surrounded by BO and techno that I could hear clearly from the people's headphones around me. It was a great experience, but we were glad to exit the train in Birmingham. When we exited we asked the railman when the next train to Aberystwyth was and he told us 7 in the morning and walked away. A bit disheartened and frustrated by missing our connecting train and the thought of having to sleep in a train terminal, he then came back and told us to take the next train to Shrewsbury, which we did. Upon arrival a cab was waiting, paid by the railway, to take us the last 2 hours to Aberystwyth by car. Little did we know, we were getting into the taxi of Shrewsbury's version of Dale Earnhardt, talk about Intimidator. Hairpin country roads at 80 mph was a bit nerve wracking and stomach upsetting at times. However we arrived at our bed and breakfast, Yr Hafod (Welsh for Your Welcome), at 1 AM to the sleepy greeting of the owner. All together great night. But the next two days were filled with hiking, eating, drinking, football (soccer), and a long search for a waterfall which we ended up finding. Highlight of the trip was certainly Sunday morning after going for a jog during sunrise, climbing up to the top of a hillside cliff that was unbelievably cold and muddy and looking down on the beauty of the coast and countryside. Capturing the beauty of the place on film does it no justice without the crisp cool salty air blowing off the sea and the smell of the dew on the expansive sheep pastures. However pictures are up on Katie's facebook and you can check some of them out. Also another highlight came later that afternoon as Katie and I sat in a pub waiting for our train with my computer out, and none other than brother Benny skype's us and we talk to him while eating with headphones on in the middle of a Welsh pub. Wow, they must have thought we were nuts you say, but they were so absorbed in the Tottenham match they probably didn't even know we existed. Anyway, it was a great first adventure but I have to go meet Katie for dinner with some friends so have a great day and we will get back on here soon.

Love,

Jordan and Katiegirl

Aberystwyth

Some Pictures from our Adventure to Aberystwyth, Wales

The Harbor

Katie on a Cliff

Our long sought after water fall "The Furnace"

Trailblazing up the hill to the Frizbee Golf course

Inland waterway just off the ocean, during sunrise

Self-timer shot on the coast

For more photos check out Katie's Facebook we will post with more words later sorry for not posting in a while everything has been soooooo busy.

Election Day Soon

With Obama coming to South Virginia soon, I thought it would be good to comment on how interesting it is to be in another country looking from the outside in at the politics especially at such a critical midterm election time. I don't have time to talk about all that I have learned but will soon...
In the mean time, its nice to know that there are still perfectly well-dressed, articulate, and qualified candidates running for important offices in America

War Eagle

Reveling in another Auburn Victory while sipping tea in the pretty flower

mug left by previous apartment dwellers. I've been wearing my AU polo

since yesterday morning but decided not to change when I woke up still 

reeling with joy from another football win!!!! People here don't quite understand

our enthusiasm for football, I think any other year when Auburn was putting on

their usual display of 8-5 or something like that we would be totally normal. But when does Auburn go UNDEFEATED. NEVER. So we are going to celebrate even 

if we are in England where they don't care.

Helllloooo Hollywood

This Friday at work I was minded my own buisness, pounding out some Excel spread sheets, when my co-worker answered the phone.  It's just the two of us upstairs in the "Hawk's Nest" and naturally, when she is on the phone I try to give her a little privacy by not listening in on her conversations.  But I couldn't help but listen in when I heard her murmur "Ah, yes, we actually do have an American that works here".  I start thinking oh gosh- what British manner did I fumble? What faux-pa did I make that only an American would make? I went back to my spread sheets when she says "Katie, the phone is for you!"  Weary, I got up and answered the phone to one of the producers at BBC. BBC?! I don't know much about British publications, but I defiantly know BBC.  She was extremely friendly and and started telling me that they need an American to come be on their radio show that night to talk about an American Halloween.  They were so curious to how Americans celebrate Halloween and needed a true blooded American to help them deciphire all the tricks and treating. I was a little skeptical at first, but then she promised me a full tour of the BBC production studio and she threw in a free invatation for Jordan so alas, I surrendered my Americaness.  After work and a stop at one of our favorite pubs, we biked out to the production studio.  The last time I went to a productions studio I was in thrid grade on a field trip.. so this was a exciting adventure for both of us, minus the lunchables.  She brought us into the studio, showed us the news production room, where the filiming for the news happens and finally the radio show room.  We met the DJ and he took us into his "live broadcast booth" which was totally swanky.

CHECK IT: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00bqys1/Phil_Mercer_Oxfordshire_woman_jailed_for_drowning_eight_cats/
and jump to 2:19: 33

Go ahead and make fun of how funny we sound, we were a little star struck.

New Sports

If the idea of the blog is to keep everyone back home posted of current developments, I have joined my college rowing team. Not to be confused with the University rowing team which is serious business lots of practice and required skill. The college is kind of beginner level, a bit of a change of pace from Auburn Swimming to St. Hilda's intermediate rowing. So far we have three practices a week, a few less than my swimming schedule....by about 7 practices. However, it is really fun. Waking up in the morning cycling down to the boat house and rowing into the sunrise is a refreshing way to start the day, not to mention the river is constantly teaming with swans, mallards, and geese. The scenery yesterday reminded me of being back in Virginia. Leaves Changing. Cows Grazing. Dew Forming. The water matching a greyish sky beginning to light with sunrise. It was a wonderful feeling, not so different than coming into the wall after a 200 free in the outdoor pool at Auburn and seeing the sun rise up over top of Jordan-Hare.
After attending practice with the Oxford varsity swim team I decided not to pursue my swimming career here at the University. Returning to the water, after eight months without swimming, was a bizarre sensation to say the least. I spent a lot of time after Nationals thinking about swimming, thinking about how I felt about it, how I acknowledged its power in my life, and how I relied on it for identity and security. I also thought about the feelings that I associated with my favorite times in swimming, and the feelings I associated with my lowest times in swimming. I thought about the incredible opportunities afforded me through my swimming career as well as the uncountable sacrifices I made along the way for the sake of competition. I considered the pressures that I mounted on my own shoulders, as well as those influenced by the team, the coaches, and the storied alumni that both haunt and motivate the lanes of Auburn. I thought about all of this and much more during the months following my swimming career and I didn't miss it at all, until I watched some of my friends compete last summer at Nationals. I watched the same people I competed with for years swim in beautiful strokes and for the first time I was on the outside looking in and there was a large part of me that longed to be in the heat racing as well. I missed swimming for every reason that could be thought of under the sky but most of all I missed the people that I trained with for years. I realized that what I loved most about swimming had nothing to do with the times, or the places, or the meets, or the training; though I loved and missed the experiences associated with these things. What I missed most was stretching on the pool deck and doing abs after practice while joking around with Will Dove, pushing through a hard set of weights after getting pumped up by Adam Klein, sitting in the shower talking after an exhausting butterfly set with Tyler McGill... I missed cooking huge breakfasts after practice and playing video games to bypass time during taper, sitting up late at night on the front porch and talking about good times and every other experience that really had nothing to do with swimming at all. I realized that times pass and places fade but friendships last forever and that was what swimming meant to me. I loved my time swimming at Auburn and I get emotional thinking about it sometimes, but I get emotional thinking about how much I miss my team. And when I was swimming in the water with the Oxford team that morning I came to grips with a lot of frustrations about swimming and not being capable of my past abilities. Swimming would never be like it was in Auburn and instead of trying to fake that it could be I would pursue something new and exciting that could define itself. So that is all to say.... I joined the rowing team instead of the swim team and it is great so far. I don't say any of this to express any dissatisfaction with the team here, or the coaching, or anything else associated with the Oxford team, its simply a personal thing and I am ready to try something new.

The Truckers, the South, and my dislike of the Steve Miller Band

So off to a different style blog than yesterday (we don't want to pigeon hole our blog into any cultural stereotype of only talking about the same stuff over and over)

So today I'm going to talk about the fact that the Drive-By Truckers are coming to the UK and are playing in London on Nov. 14th so if anyone is thinking to themselves, "Hey, I got nothing going on that Sunday night I'll just pop across the pond hang with Jordan and watch the Truckers" well you are certainly welcome to come.

The location of our apartment in relation to my classes and the Rhodes House is about a 20-30 minute walk (or 10-15 minute bike ride). However, either way I have been listening to my iPod while I travel and one of the things I have found is that surrounded by this new place and new culture I listen to a lot of Truckers and Black Crowes. I feel like it keeps me connected to my Southern home. I am so proud to love the places where I come from, both Roanoke and Auburn. But from a larger vantage point, I am so proud of being from the Southeast. I think that living in it my whole life I always took for granted the subtle beauties of the culture, the landscape, and the people. Looking somewhat existentially at life in South is something that I am excited to be able to do, and gain other people's perspectives on the place from where I come. I plunged into a conversation with my new friend Richard (New Zealand) about the magnitude of college football in the south, and excitedly described the atmosphere that surrounds the musical culture of Nashville with my friend Charlie from Britain. Most of all I get to enjoy the gloriousness of hot tea with milk while I explain that in the South we drink ice cold SWEET tea with lemon. My observation of the thought processes of the few that I talked to about these things is that there is a mysteriousness to the South that excites people. Everyone knows what they get when they go to New York or DC or LA. But the South is still a mystery, and having that mystery as my birthplace gives me something to be proud of in this melting pot city that is Oxford. --- and this leads me to my next point which I came upon while in the shower....

I started off talking about the Drive-By Truckers and I don't really feel like I need to explain why there music is innately southern, all you have to do is listen to it. But, I do want to let all of our blog readers out there know about my first experience that I really remember with non-conformity. Most of my close friends can attest to the fact that I have a severe dislike for the Steve Miller Band. For any older classic rock fans who idolize the Steve Miller Band I apologize and please don't judge me its just not my favorite. However, this was a hard thing for me to come to. As an adolescent boy growing up in the Roanoke, VA you listened to the John Boy and Billy Big Show on the Rock of Virginia 96.3 WROV, and it was a rare morning that you heard less than 6 Steve Miller Band songs in the course of a few hours. Given, I may have at first liked the band because I thought it gets played on the same station as Zeppelin, Skynyrd, and the Allman Brothers, and as a teenage boy in Virginia these were musical hinges to hang your door on. I felt as though the nation of classic rock was suddenly going to turn on me and disavow me as a member to their exclusive club. I would no longer be able to air guitar the solo to "Freebird" or the drums to "Rock and Roll". However, I really didn't enjoy the music, I think at first as a 13 year old figuring out the thing about the peaches and the tree in "The Joker" I felt real cool but then I turned 14. And honestly "Fly like an Eagle" could we be a little more creative with our imagery (given it what great in Space Jam). But anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know how my life of questioning conformity started... with the Steve Miller Band, so I guess I can't really badger them too much they did some good for me. Anyway, I have to go to class have a great day see YA'LL later. (I don't feel local enough to say "cheers!" yet, how would I feel if some Brit came walking through Auburn saying "See Ya'll later" in their sophisticated accent)

No Class Wednesday (Description of Oxford System)

So today I don't have any class which is great, however, I have endless amounts of reading to do but I wanted to stop and write a little blog explaining my educational system here at Oxford so that it maybe makes a little bit of sense (very hard to actually make sense of though). So each week I have lectures, seminars, tutorials, and group discussions. These are all different environments of learning however, they are all incorporated into the greater learning objective. A lecture is similar to what you would find in the states, a specific topic is explained for about an hour by one of the professors in a lecture room. There are three different supervisors in my program and each of them teach different lectures during the week. With each lecture there is a coinciding reading list with between 20 and 40 readings of books, articles, and journals to gain more information on the specific subject. Separate from the lectures are what are called seminars. These seminars do not specifically pertain to the course but are usually organized by course lecturers and so typically correlate to some sort of course material. Seminars are talks from researchers, lecturers, field workers, or any other people of respected position who come and discuss there field of study with the class. Some seminars are out of this world incredible, such as the one I will discuss shortly, and some others are morbidly boring or just fly way over your head. Lastly there are what are called tutorials, this is the difficult part of the Oxford system. Each week a 2000-2500 word essay is due on Tuesday evening to a lecturer on a particular topic given to you with a list of readings the week before. This essay is then read by your tutor and the following Thursday discussed by you, your tutor, and one or two of your peers. Typically you are asked to defend your arguments and talk about what you read, how you felt about it, and in general explain your failures (AHH!!). But its not bad because the essays aren't for a grade they are merely a reference point for the tutors to examine how the material is saturating the class and an opportunity for students to be applying the education and really diving into the material. So far I have loved this system but to fully grasp the greater central Oxford learning system you should also know that as an Oxford student you are allowed and encouraged to attend any lecture or seminar by any lecturer in any field of study. So if you have a free hour and want to learn a little about Freudian thought, or Latin American political theory, or quantum mechanics....(nah) you can. Which is really cool to me, I have been searching for some interesting lectures and am really excited about a seminar I found called: Crisis of a Wasteful Nation, Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive Era. But I have also found some interesting lectures on social policy, international development, history of medicine, and political theory. There is so much to learn and so little time to do it in. But I'm trying to stay on top of all my medical anthropology reading, which brings me to my next point (long blog sorry).
During my seminar Monday I was introduced to the very interesting and thought provoking topic of sex-selection in India. I wanted to talk about it in the blog because whenever people ask me what I'm studying at Oxford I tell them Medical Anthropology and they proceed to ask, What exactly is that? So instead of trying to define the field of medical anthropology and butcher it tremendously I will simply give you an intricate example of what medical anthropology is and the importance of this knowledge to public health among other things. On Monday we were spoken to by Dr. Maya Unnithan of Sussex University on her specific field work and study of fetal sex-selection in India. This refers to a growing trend in Indian society to abort the female fetus upon ultrasound information confirming its sex. This has been found to occur mostly in middle class educated individuals as well as in lower class demographics and across multiple urban regions of India. The motivations as observed by Dr. Unnithan are myriad and complicated but certain driving forces include the social distinction given to fertile women especially when pregnant, the knowledge of a poor quality of life for the child once born, pragmatism of economics associated with the investment of a child, and the need for a male child to be born in order to pass wealth and heritage. Each of these motivations are incredibly intricate upon deeper discussion. Within the women there is little moral guilt or remorse associated with the abortion because this is a cultural norm that has cultivated in the society. Many women feel that the quality of life available to the child is so hard and difficult for women that they are doing the right thing by aborting. Further, the pragmatism of the issue is seconded by the thought of how parents of a daughter will pay the dowry necessary for their child to marry into a family. These are all cultural constructs that complicate a medical issue. Looking to the doctor's perspective, many physicians see their actions as in the best interest of the child. They feel that it is better to end the suffering now then have a child die of neglect down the road or worse have the mother go to a back alley abortion clinic risking her own life to end the pregnancy. Furthermore, the government of India seeking to enter the global scene must sign various human rights agreements to be considered on the same level of development as other global nations. However, they also see the population control issues of China and implicitly know that the cultural abortion practices in their country are in a way controlling the enormous growth of the country. I have attempted terribly to skim the surface of a difficult and complex issue that is taking place in India. However, I do feel that it is a perfect description of the importance that medical anthropology plays in this world. Understanding health in a population is inextricably linked with the interplay of culture, society, religion, politics, and ecology. If you are really interested in learning a little bit more about this topic you should google scholar Dr. Unnithan's essay entitled:

Female selective abortion - beyond 'culture': family making and gender inequality in a globalising India

My description of this issue does no justice to her descriptions of field work so if your interested please read.

First day on the job and a little Harry Potter

Cyber friends!

I felt so cool, riding my new bike to my first day at work this morning, with my packed lunch hanging off the handle bars. (Side note- the Ozone has been resurrected in a new silver light and is back in action in Oxford). I probably looked like a kid on a pony for the first time riding to the candy store, grinning from ear to ear the whole way.  I am so thankful to have this opportunity to work at such a stimulating, exciting place.  Honestly, I am just so excited about everything I am going to learn from the people I am working with and all the experiences coming my way.   The day got even better when I got home and Jordan had lilies in a vase on the kitchen table to celebrate my first day.  Tell me I don't have the best husband in the world. 

new bike goofin on the cadi caprice

After moving in we realized that we live right across the street from the university rugby fields.  Tonight Oxford played the London Wasps and marked my first rugby experience.  wow, what a chaotic game. I'm sure it seemed so chaotic to me because I am not familiar with any of the rules or objectives of the game, but the other part of me thinks that it could just be an insane game.  First of all, why the heck do none of the guys wear helmets or pads? After I realized this, I expected blood to be gushing out of every guy that stood up after getting trounced on by 4 huge guys on the other team. But no- these guys are invincible I tell you.  I gained much respect for anyone who goes out for rugby.  The funniest part for me was when there was a "jump ball" and both teams huddled right next to each other and hoisted up one HUGE player while the referee threw the ball onto the pile of men and the two "flyers" (if you will) fought to knock the ball to their side.  I guess from my days as a cheerleader I expected the lightest, prettiest guy to be the one chosen to be lifted in the air. But it was hilarious to see the burliest, most macho man lifted into the air by his teammates.

Most importantly, Saturday night one of our friends invited me to accompany her and another friend to the Harry Potter dinner at her college.  I must admit, I felt like I was a little unworthy of this experience, seeing that I have only read the first 3 books and have fallen asleep in the middle of every Harry Potter movie I've seen.  But none-the-less I was so pumped to have been invited.  I was told to dress up and spent all afternoon in our room holding up clothes asking Jordan "which one looks witchey-er?" Soon to arrive and realize I had the worst costume there (I had to claim I was merely mud-blood).  People went all out.  One of our friends decked out in gold glitter from head to toe and was the golden snitch, there was a phoenix, a Hagrid, Professor McGonagall, a guy with Aragog around his neck, Malfoy, you get the picture.  It was incredible, when we walked in we were greeted by Dumbledore who was holding the sorting hat.  When we walked in a loud, omniscient voice assigned us to colleges- we were selected as Ravenclaws.  Throughout the night Dumbledore would present challenges that we all had to do in order to win points for our team.  One of the challenges included one person from your team casting a spell and then another person had to receive it.  This is when my lack of Harry Potter knowledge was most evident, people kept casting all of these spells and laughing so hard "what if he cast a rumper-tumper spell instead?" and I had to fake laugh to fit in.  Even the ceiling had a sky that kept changing like in the movie, every detail was accounted for.  It was truly a once in a lifetime experience, I don't know that I will ever be the same, especially after digesting eel.

Dumbledore doing his thing

Stir Fry and BIG NEWS!!!!

Last night marked an eventful evening in the married lives of Katie and Jordan. We cooked our first meal in our new home's kitchen. A tasty assemblage of chicken, frozen vegetables, teriyaki sauce, ramen noodles and chopped garlic. Maybe one of the better thrown together meals we have ever cooked and there were leftovers. However, while cooking we were both unable to control our memories of cooking large family dinners with our friends in Auburn. I recalled a specific memory when Tyler McGill and I had to teach Will Dove how to cook a can of green beans on the stove. At first he just opened the can and put it on the stovetop. Later, Will turned out to cook far more than any of us but his learning days were always fun to poke at. On a completely seperate note we have finally gotten our wedding pictures and they are awesome, Laurel did such a wonderful job they are wonderful and radiate Katie's beauty in every picture. Also there are some really fun pictures from all the dancing this one goes out to Mary Fran my little brother's girlfriend and master wedding cake maker. (Also note that Will, bottom left, and John Hans nearby are both wearing sunglasses)

and

(How can happiness not exude from these pictures our wedding was AWESOME)

and many more to come but I have a tutorial soon so I must end this blog.

But first, the MOST EXCITING NEWS OF THE BLOG!!!!!

KATIE GOT A JOB

After applying to more jobs than either of us can remember she landed a job at none other than the Rhodes House. The Rhodes House is the functioning building for the Rhodes Foundation and a headquarters for all Rhodes Scholars on campus. It provides Rhodes Scholars a place to come and hang out, study, drink tea, and there are often meet and mingles with free drinks (one happening tonight matter of fact).

(Rhodes House)

 Katie's position will be working as an assistant in the Rhodes House helping with organizing fundraisers and special events for the Warden. She is immensely happy about this position as am I, but I'm sure she will blog soon about all of her specific duties and responsibilities. This is Goodbye for now but we are going to try and be posting more regularly now that we are getting settled in and not running around town trying to find buildings and buy home goods like bowls and forks.

To London for the evening

Well I realize that katie discussed the blitzkrieg fire alarm this morning but after a day of lectures we are now on the bus headed to London. You might ask, "Jordan, but how are you blogging on a bus?" Well the answer is that sweet double decker buses here have wifi so I am blogging with my iPod. I feel like I could be on an apple commercial or trendy social networking ad. But it's cool we can't wait to see our friends in London. More to come on some invigorating lectures on medical anthropology.

Yes Beyonce, Ring the Alarm

This morning, Jordan and I were sleeping peacefully in our little European bed when all of a sudden, all hell broke loose.  The most ear-peircing, shrieking, awful alarm began blaring all throughout our little flat.  I was so disoriented, I had no idea what was going on.  Jordan had set the alarm to go to swim practice this morning so I started hitting the alarm trying to make it stop shrilling in my ear. When I realized it wasn't the alarm, I yelled "Jordan, we are under attack!!" Jordan, the scholar, realized very quickly what it really was.  He looked at me and said "Katie, it's the fire alarm!"  Fear took over my body, I quickly envisioned our first little home burnt to the ground. (Apparently, I am very irrational in the morning) We have been lighting lots of candles in our flat and I thought for sure we had left one candle burning and now the rest of our house was on fire.  We shot out of bed, threw our boots on, frantically yelled about what to grab (to quickly realize we have nothing of value here) Jordan grabbed his wallet and we sprinted out of our bedroom.  I couldn't even make myself look into the living room as we ran past it because I didn't want to see it in flames.  We flew open the door to freedom, stumbled up our stairs, our hearts pounding to find five other neighbors all in their pajamas, and the Landlord yelling "THIS IS JUST A DRILL"

 what?!?!!! No one gave us the heads up that they have those here. I felt like we had just gotten pranked, or it was our initiation into British society or something.

After ten minutes, all of our neighbors finally stumbled out of bed and made it outside which we were told was an unacceptable response time.   I'm really hoping that doesn't mean they are going to try and "test" our response time again.  At least the next time, I will know we are not under attack and that it is just a drill. After our brisk morning, we came back inside to our non-charred flat and couldn't go back to sleep because we kept laughing about what had just happened.  What a great way to rise and shine!

Medical Anthro Programme/War Eagle

Well yesterday I met the other members of my program for the first time. A very nice bunch of go figure, southerners. Out of the 12 people in my program there area students from Memphis, Birmingham, Ft. Rooker, AL, and a British girl who went to high school in Atlanta. It is a great group of people and I'm really excited to get to know them all a lot better.
Also a short note for all the War Eagles out there who love hearing about great Auburn stories. Yesterday Katie and I were trying to meet up between my program induction and the following reception and we were walking down the street (some what lost) when we heard someone across the street yell "Jordan?"
I turned and looked and two fellow Tigerheads were standing on the sidewalk. The strangest part of this story is that we had never met each other. We knew that one another were coming over to study at Oxford and had chatted via facebook but never in person. Anyway, Brandon is in Oxford at the Institute for Christian Apologetics and its great to have a friendly Auburn fan nearby.
We will be back soon for more posts.

things the brits have taught us lately...

So, we realize we are still new around these parts, but the brits have taught us some pretty crucile stuff the last 5 days. We'll fill you in on the rest once we are true "locals"

1.If it's raining outside and you tell someone "gosh, my pants got soaked!" they will look strangely because you just told them that your underwear is wet. Here pants=underwear, trousers=pants.  picky, picky..

2. The band "six pence none the richer" accuired their name from UK currency. Grace Anthony knows this very well

3.If you desire to have a TV here, you have to purchase a TV licensce, which is a mere 150 pounds (probably 230 dollars).  They even have TV police that come around and ask to see your licensce if they hear you have a TV. 

4.  England's national food is curry.  Which probably explains all 50 Indian resturants on the street next to us.

5. Used bike salemen rival American used car salesmen in terms of sleezyness.. we are so weary of getting scammed everytime we walk into the bike shop.  (which is named cyclo-analysis by the way..haha)

6. Water is a not easy to come across.  Especially if you just ask your waiter for "water please".  They will return with a bottle of sparkling water (not very thrist quencing).

7.  All the little kids here look like they could be ready for any sudden bussiness meetings that spring up.  They all walk around with little ties and suits and nice shoes with their british accents.  They really are adorable.

8.  The 100s of buses here drive extremely close to the sidewalk.  You could be walking down the sidewalk, telling a story passionatly, fling your arms in the air mid story at the wrong time and BAM- there goes your arm, next stop london.  We havent actually seen this happen yet, but I know its coming.

9. Mailboxes at the college = "piges" which is short for your piegon hole.  I like to think Hedwig is the mail man in this town.

10. No more spring and fall semester, they have much fancier names for their terms.  Right now, Jordan is about to start his "Michaelmas term", in Janurary he will begin the "Hilary term" and then finally "Trinity term".

11.  When you here people talking about "punting", they are talking about pushing a boat down the river with a stick, it kinda looks like a gondala ride.  It seems to be a very romantic thing for all the undergrads to do. A little different than punting the football up in the air and yelling jackpot.

12. First year students here are called "freshers" instead of freshmen.  It sounds much more welcoming than "freshmeat" did at Auburn.

13. When you walk into a building, you are not on the first floor, you are on the ground floor.  You have to use the stairs to reach the first floor.  The 3rd floor never seemed so far away.

14. After only being here for 5 days we have both found ourselves using uneccesary adjectives to describe daily common occurences. The Brits have such a control over the English language (it was theirs first) and they use it "rather" eloquently. They enjoy putting adjectives like "rather", "quite",  and "right"  before all forms of speech. For example: (while reading you must say out loud with an english accent)
American -  It is cold outside
Brit - It is really quite nippy out there

First Two Days

 We are glad to annouce that we have somehow made it to Oxford with all 350 pounds of our luggage (which was looking very doubtful at some points during the travel) and are now posting this blog in the comfort of our very first home together. God is so good.

 There were tons of emotions building as we arrived in Oxford and began approaching our door.  We felt like little kids at Disney World for the first time, we had our necks crained trying to take in every overwhelming beautiful building we walked by while lugging around way too much stuff.  In this instance it was rain boots and sweaters, not dippin dots and mickey mouse ears. The anticipationn continued building as we finally arrived at St. Hilda's college and received the keys to our very first flat from the porter (Brit talk for maintenance man). The key is a relic of the past, quite typical of Oxford as we have come to find, a long round stem leading to a flattened key head. We finally found the flat with an expectation of an average hotel size room with a full bed and maybe sink. We very intentionally set our expectations at their lowest so as to exceed them with whatever our accommodations ended up being. Our expectations were certainly exceeded upon entering the apartment. We are now living in a one bedroom flat with a living room that doubles as a study, a kitchen, 2 half bathrooms, a dining area, and AWESOME backyard with a pear tree, and potenital games of croquet, cricket and other british sports. It is as my dad would say chopped up with walls but it works and its wonderful. Some outdated carpets and curtains will have to be changed and covered up but there is nothing that is beyond sprucing up and a women's touch.  We have included some pictures of the before looks at our apartment but hopefully someday soon we can show some better after shots (Extreme Home Makeover style).

Today we hit the town and got to know our area a little bit. We live really close to a great area, and can't wait to know the ends and outs of it.  We were pretty hungry, considering we only had leftover wine and one chocolate candy bar from the flight, so our first order of busines was to eat.  We turned on the block and the first thing we saw was a Subway (can you believe Jared is a hit here too?).  Both of us slightly wanted to play it safe and get a hearty sandwhich but resisted the urge and ate at Kabob Kid.  For those of you who know me, I am what some say a picky eater, and as it turns out Kabob Kid is Indian cuisine.  But I am determined to soak in this whole experience so I went for it, ordered the most basic dish, and enjoyed it! Indian food check, who knows what could be next.  After our time with the Kabob Kid (I cant help but wonder if that is some kind of spin of the Karate Kid...) we strolled over to the bike shop (at Cycle King, brother of Mattress King) where Jordo got his first British bike- THE monte carlo. (picture also included).  After bicycle shopping we perused a number of thrift shops lookings for various home goods picked up some clothes hangers and other items, then grabbed some groceries for the kitchen at the Tesco (including digestive crackers- which on a side note, we learned their tastiness after we went to a bon fire last night and instead of graham crackers for smores they use digestive crackers) and finally arrived back at 175 (our home). Going back to the apperence of our flat, in our bedroom your eyes were quickly drawn to the 7 foot, wood armour directly across from our bed, and not in a good way.  I guess being the picky person that I am, I suggested we move it to the living room.  Somehow the two of us managed to manouver this huge, bulky, hideous peice out of our room and discovered hiding behind it in our bedroom was a great fireplace. Talk about a bonus! We ate dinner at 4500 Miles From Delhi (go figure more Indian food for dinner which Katie and I are quickly learning to enjoy) Anyway, after some great conversation with Rhodes Scholars from Zimbabwe and Nimibia we went to our newest favorite bar close to our house called the Cape of Good Hope.

Katie and I have both lived in some of the most quant places on earth but there is something about Oxford and its age that has shown how certain things only grow more beautiful in time. The beauty of the architecture in the town is marvelous and on every street corner you see a place that you can't wait to go into and find out about but you feel like you will  never have enough time to go everywhere you see. However, probably the most exciting and intriguing aspect of Oxford yet has been getting to know all of the other scholars from countries all around the world. You non-chalantly sit down to dinner with individuals from West Africa, Australia, and Canada who have seen the world from perspectives that are completely novel  to your mind. It is humbling and wonderful at the same time to have this opportunity and we can't wait to continue living in this setting with such wonderful people. More will come about all of our friends but we are tired and must get to bed so have a wonderful day.

Our Last Day in the States

Well the title pretty much tells the tale, today we depart for England after a lunch with Washington past Rhodes scholars and a keynote address by the current Warden of Rhodes House Donald Markwell. We could not be more excited about any experience besides maybe our wedding but we didn't really get to hang out a ton before that happened to share in the anticipatory excitement so this is really awesome. I will be posting a longer bit in the future that will touch on some of what Katie posted yesterday but the past week has been an incredible opportunity in DC to meet all of our new friends. It has been an indescribable time to be presented with the magnitude of the gift of this scholarship and in many ways the responsibilities that are concurrently innate upon its distribution. We are the heirs of blessing, fortune, and opportunity and there is a path of responsibility that goes along with this scholarship leading into the future and we cannot wait to embark on this journey.

Capitol City- Matt Wertz. sike.

Wow.  The last 4 days have been incredible for Jordan and I.  We arrived to DC and finally had the chance to meet all 31 of the other Rhodes scholars.  Being a tag- along of sorts, I will admit I was pretty nervous to  meet all of the other Rhodies.  I felt like I was back at the 1st day of middle school, or awkwardly getting ready for my 1st day of sorority rush.  I was especially nervous because all of you know how quirky, random, weird comments come out of my mouth often, especially when I feel nervous... but when you are about to meet 31 of America's most brilliant people you can't have first impressions like that. Luckily, somehow I managed suppress saying anything like "You won the Rhodes scholarship huh? what a lucky time" or "Oh your from Kansas? Do you ever just feel like Dorothy?" and Jordan and I were blown away with how incredible his fellow class mates truly are.  Talk about the most intelligent, interesting, and genuine people. I have yet to have had a conversation that didn't leave me feeling challenged (in a great way) or enlightened by their presence. Each one of them has been so gracious to accept us as a couple and make me feel so welcome in this very prestigious group.  We cannot wait to start our life together in Oxford with all of these new found friends.

Besides being overly excited about all the potential friendships we have ahead of us, we have both been wowed by all the cool things we have seen while in DC.  One of our highlights was last night when we were able to go to the British embassy and meet the British ambassador, quite a lovely chap.   It was a great warm-up for living in the UK; there were lots of strange, bland food being passed around, enormous incredible art everywhere, beautiful botanical gardens in the back yard, and even a basset hound that greeted us promptly upon arrival.  Man, I cannot wait to cross the pond tomorrow.

After a adventure packed morning at the Capitol, Jordo and I sat and soaked up each others excitement at our last American lunch.  (Don't worry, we both ordered cheeseburgers and french fries which were served on red-white-and blue plates.. go america).  Jordan brought up a great point, it has been such a HUGE blessing for us to experience all of this together.  I think it would be difficult to hear second hand from Jordan all of the things he has been exposed to this weekend.  I just don't know that the same sense of excitement and passion would have been aroused in me.  We have both had the chance to listen to past Rhodes scholars who are doing truly remarkable things with what they have been given and both feel charged and compelled to do the same with our lives. More on that later..

Well.. peace out/ lllyas/see-ya/ ttyl and all other American ways to say goodbye.  I miss all of you a tremendous amount.

September: The Month of Thanksgiving

If you know very much about Katie and I you probably know that we both really enjoy the music of The Avett Brothers.  Their lyrical poetry somehow constantly speaks to our hearts and the way that they can put their thoughts, emotions, and challenges into song has never ceased to amaze me. Recently we were driving back from one of our favorite places in the world (Auburn Alabama, War Eagle!) and had just said farewell to many of our best friends, and we were listening to the song Pretty Girl from Chile. A line from the song made us both step back and evaluate ourselves and our lives. The lyric says, "I'd like to think that I'm a thankful man but it may not be true". This line got both of us to thinking about our own thankfulness. As we drove we both got very emotional (really Jordan got super emotional) thinking about our friends and our family and how wonderfully blessed we are to have such loving close relationships with these people. We realized that most of the time we do like to think of ourselves as being thankful but the truth is that often, we take much for granted and entitlement begins to rear its ugly head in our direction. We substitute thankfulness for a self-righteous feeling of somehow deserving the love of friends because of our own good friendship. However, in moments of reflection we are able to take in the full measure of the love that our friends and family show us and its  demonstration of the unfailing love and promise of Christ and there is true thanksgiving in our hearts.
We were especially challenged by these thoughts in hindsight of the entire wedding and summer months. Our families, friends, and some random strangers showed us the kind of love that leaves one speechless and we felt that their acts had not been reciprocated properly with our thankfulness. Katie wishes that we could have everyone that we love over for a pizza party to hang out and talk and show them how thankful we are because nothing means thank you more than pizza. However, we realize that this isn't possible. Instead our words are our only tool for showing our thanks, and we say Thank You. To our Mom's and Dad's, brothers and sister, grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, neighbors, 36, the orig 4, swim bros, all of the past present and future YL compounders, all our Auburn friends with tiger blood in their hearts, our friends from Roanoke and Franklin, Scott and Amanda Bowen, Meagan Gibson for all of her help with the wedding, Mary Fran for hitting the sweet tooth at the wedding, Moes (aka The Southwest Grill), our random friend John who let us use his truck to drive away in and Katie's mom for following him to his house to ask him to use it, and for everyone else who in every sort of way made that day unforgettable. A thousand thank you's to all.
One more short story and this post is done. Before we left Auburn we went to church with all of our friends at First Presbyterian Opelika one last time and afterward went to lunch at Moes (Go figure). After eating, we went outside and embraced one another saying our goodbyes in the parking lot. Before getting in the car to leave one of my closest friends gave me a letter to read. We got into the car and began driving off and Katie read me the letter. There was no real need to read the letter nor any necessary words to be spoken. We had somehow found the moment when we realized the beauty of the relationships that we share with our friends and family and how much we will miss them when we are 3000 miles away.
God has been so good to us and when we step back from the moment and truly take in all the beauty of this wonderful life we are only more assured of his grace and blessing in our lives.

If Genghis Khan, Why Can't I?

Welp, here is our Blog, The Bee's Knees. This is our first adventure into the inter-web diary posting network and we are still rookies at this so throw us a bone if it looks shabby. For years I resisted any temptation to create a blog for simple principles that were really quite silly. Most reasoning centered around my dislike for the abbreviation of web-log into blog, and for that matter my dislike for most all unnecessary abbreviations. However, in an effort to stay in touch with all of our incredible friends and family we have decided to create a blog to record and relate some of our experiences, travels, and adventures. We realize that we won't be able to call and e-mail with the amount of correspondence that we would like to maintain with our closest of friends, so we thought a blog would be a great avenue of communication. With that being said Here is our first Blog Post...

Trying to figure out a cool witty name to a blog is a really hard process. We had an ongoing list of blog names that we had been brainstorming since the wedding, however none of them seemed perfect.  Here is a top 5 list of our favorites (By the way, I like top 5 lists).

5. The Colonel's Buffet

4. To Each Their Own

3. Katie+Jordan=#1

2. Za Andersons

1. If Genghis Khan, Why Can't I?

The number one choice ended up being the Bee's Knees due to its rhyming sound and overall coolness. However, the Genghis Kahn name was awesome and was actually a slogan used by a guy who decided to play a game of golf across the entire region of Mongolia. He wrote a book about his trip hitting a golf ball across the whole area, I didn't read it but I liked the phrase. Anyway, The Bee's Knee's it is.

Today, Katie and I spent the entire day packing copious amounts of clothing into vacuum pack bags which were then stuffed into 4 large suitcases and 2 carry-on bags. We spent hours weighing ourselves then picking up the bags and subtracting the new weight then unpacking some clothes and repeating the weighings then repacking some items and repeating the weighings followed by repeating the unpack/pack. All in all the pack went well and we are ready to leave in the afternoon for Washington DC to see Benny (my brother), meet the other Rhodes Scholars, and eventually travel to England on Wednesday.