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.