The second day...

I reread last night's post and found more mistakes than usual :) Forgive me, please!

Well today has been a very good day.  Partly because it started at 12:30 when a friend called to say she was coming over later than expected.  Which was good, considering her phone call woke me up.  When I said I was tired, I wasn't exaggerating!

The day began the best way possible.  I read Psalm 69, 83, and 84 with a friend and we spent some time praying for our co-workers and friends in London.  It was very refreshing, to say the least.  We ate lunch together (obviously it was a late lunch!) and then I spent some time preparing for my evening, which has included dinner and a very long but beneficial meeting.  After having been away for so long, it's time to start to figure out my new schedule and duties.

As I travelled on the Tube to my  meeting, I was struck by the serious mood.  I've forgotten while away and I suppose I just got used to it when I was here before, but everyone is very serious.  No one smiles when they walk or if they accidentally make eye contact.  Very few people bother to say "Pardon" as they walk/push by you on the sidewalk.  Almost everyone wears a black coat.  Generally, everyone rushes off to catch the next train or the next bus.  It makes me wonder if I became more like that while I was here before.  I'm not certain these are elements of the culture to which I want to adapt.  It really shouldn't matter if I miss my train, because within two or five or (oh horrors) ten minutes, the next train will come.  I don't like pretending to be oblivious to the world around me.  I feel I miss opportunities.

Well, I must get to my preparations for another meeting tomorrow and I think an early bed is also required so that I wake up before noon!  To close, here's a portion of what I read this morning:

How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty!  My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the Living God.  (Psalm 84:1-2)

I have arrived!

I departed amid some craziness.  My first flight was delayed almost two hours, causing me to attempt a dash from one terminal to another to catch my flight.  I was the third to last person getting on my connecting flight, but thanks be to God, I made it and my bags did as well!  The flight itself was pretty empty, leaving the seat next to me vacant.  I could lay over and sleep a few hours during the trip.

Arrival was smooth.  Our months of work paid off with a mere five minutes spent with a Border Official.  I was met by two friends at a coffee shop just outside of customs.  We were able to sit and have a coffee and chat for about an hour before we piled suitcases into Beth's car and made our way to the flat.

My day consisted of unpacking, grocery shopping at Sainsbury's, realizing I've forgotten the pin for my debit card because I haven't used it in so long, topping up my phone, topping up my Oyster card, and meeting friends at Trafalgar Square for a light dinner.  It's now 10:15, and I'm exhausted.  The two hours of sleep I got last night on the plane were not nearly sufficient.

The weather is pretty nice today, cold with the wind but warmer than London has been of late.  Tomorrow will be a blissfully easy day in schedule, with a lay-in for my sleep recovery.  I'm making lunch for V and C, and then doing some administrative work and hopefully resetting my pin with the bank.

The words are starting to blur together on the screen so I think it's time for my head to hit the pillow.  I miss family but it's nice to be back in London too.  One day at a time.

Kolton :)

Kolton, now one year old.  He looks happy that I'm holding him, but really, he's grinning at his momma!

The things I'll miss...

I'm sitting with a Jack Russell Terrier on my lap, another one at my feet, and I'm drinking my last free caramel latte from Sheetz.  I will miss those punch cards that add up to free coffees :)

As most of you probably already know, I'm headed back across the Pond on Monday, a scant three days from now.  I can't quite believe it!  I've been stateside for six months.  I'll have an entire new adjustment to the UK again.  To top it off, I had been staying at a friend's flat while she was out of the UK.  Now, she and I arrive back on the same day.  She graciously doesn't mind if we share her room for a few days, but in the meantime, I'm looking for a place to rent with another friend.  We've thus far been unsuccessful.  I'm praying we'll find the right place with the right price in God's time.  It's actually not stressing me out too much, which is a reminder to me that God has been teaching me about trusting Him for my provision while I've been here in the USA.  It's a lesson I'll continue learning in the UK.

Things I will miss when I leave?  (in no special order other than the first!)

• my loved ones :)  You are all so special to me.  My parents have recently arrived from Africa.  Although I'm sad to be leaving them so soon, I've still had almost two weeks with them that I would have missed had I returned to the UK when I planned.
• the convenience of a car!
• pets 
• as I mentioned, free coffee from Sheetz!
• having so many good friends in such close proximity
• knowing how to do most things without needing to ask for help!
• Wegman's grocery store
• chocolate with peanut butter....yummmm
• fires in the fireplace
• a Christmas tree at home
• Monkey bread
• Pennsylvania countrysides
• the church I've been attending
• my weekly gatherings with two dear "sisters!" (Marleen and Meredith!)
• dryers!  
• clothes warm from the dryer!
• a back yard
• nights just relaxing on the sofa watching a show with my family snuggled close 

But the bright side is, there are also things I'm excited to go back to in the UK!  I need to remind myself of these things to keep my perspective balanced.  Here's a sampling of what I'm excited to go back to....

• my friends in the UK
• being able to (eventually) unpack my suitcase
• knowing (eventually) where I will be living for a set period of time
• not needing to put fuel in a car!
• being able to get back in my job and my life in the UK
• Cornish Pasties.... um, amazing!
• seeing the Christmas lights in London
• lots of recycling options! (Ok, tangent.  I know that seems silly, but recycling is important to me!  London makes it very easy and in rural PA...not so much!)
• Corner shops
• walking as my main method of transportation
• being able to use my UK iPhone again 
• getting into a routine! (again, it seems silly, but the last six months have not had much of a routine.  It's draining to try to be planning for your days and weeks not knowing when you are leaving the country!  It does not allow for long term plans at all!)
• the Tube
• Sticky Toffee Pudding from Whetherspoons

Again, just a sampling, but I know there are good things waiting for me in the UK.  I am filled with anticipation about what the coming year holds.  

Jeremiah 29:11

 For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and future, says the Lord.  

Gettysburg Battlefield at Sunset

The day after Thanksgiving included a freezing cold adventure at Gettysburg Battlefield.  It was beautiful and sobering.  Every time I've driven throughout the battlefield, it saddens me to think of the lives lost.  The Mason Dixon line is not such a sharp divide.  In my own family, I have relatives that live on either side of the Mason Dixon.  We tease my mom because she's a Southern who married a Yank.  Yet my parents grew up not more than three hours apart.  There must have been situations like that at Gettysburg.  Had they lived during that time, my uncles could have fought against my father.  Men fought each other who could have perhaps been family in other times.  If a few hundred years can change that perspective, shouldn't we give more careful consideration to who we fight today?  

Day 29 - A picture of you when you were little.

Me and a cat (Blackie? Shadow? Some original name such as that!)  

I'm perhaps four years old in this photo :) Not really sure!

Day 27 - A picture of something you love.

Patches (crawling over my sister)

Mischief 

Green

I appreciate caring for our bodies and for the environment.  I think that "going green" is not a new concept.  It's biblical!  God ordained that we care for the earth in the first chapter of Genesis!  This morning, I took a new step into Genesis.

 "Then God said, I give you every seed bearing plan on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it.  They will be yours for food."  Genesis 1:29

I made my first green smoothie today.

My ingredients were as follows: a little bit of vanilla yogurt, spinach leaves, arugula leaves, a pear, grapes, (I skipped the banana in the end), wheatgrass, peaches and a few raspberries.  

The infamous wheatgrass!  It looks like...well, grass.  

I chopped what needed to be chopped and threw everything together in a blender. I added a bit of water to make it a little more smooth.  

The end result...I wasn't sure how it would taste at this point!  

And...voila!  Actually, it tasted really good!  I took it to the office to get opinions.  Pam and Andrea agreed that it was good, Leah wasn't sure, and Brandon thought it just tasted like grass.  He said he doesn't like to mix his veggies and fruits.  :)  Well, I liked it!  

Day 22 - A picture of what makes you different from everyone else.

Look closely at my earlobe.  It was shaped like that when I was born.  

Day 21 - A picture of something that makes you happy.

One picture? Only?  I feel like this should be a list.  :)  Today, top of the list is 

1. FRIENDS (and all of my loved ones!)  I just got home from morning spent with friends.  A bunch of us girls used to work together and have gone our various ways now.  Julie was back in the area and brought us all together at Juice&Java for a great few hours of catching up.  All too brief, but a lot of fun!

2. sunsets

3. puppies curled up next to me

4. fall leaves

5. coffee, COFFEE, and coffee

6. green smoothies!  (I'm hooked)

7. travel

8. photography

9. movies :)

10. learning to drive a stick shift :) (sometimes it makes me happy, sometimes it makes me angry!)

11.  So many things....I could keep going...but for now, I'm headed to another that makes me happy.... used BOOKSTORES :D

Day 20 - A picture of something that calms you down.

Animals are soothing company.  I love dogs and horses in particular, although at the moment, I'm around dogs much more frequently than horses.  They don't ask questions.  Communicating to an animal is simple and complicated concepts don't need to be explained.  They love.  They trust.  I'm thankful that my parents allowed my sister and I to have pets throughout our childhood.  We were also blessed beyond measure by taking horseback riding lessons, starting when I was about seven.  I have rarely ridden since college, but I have so many good memories of the stillness that comes from working with a horse.  As for dogs, we've always had Jack Russell Terriers, small dogs.  I love having a puppy hop onto my lap and just curl up to sleep while I read or watch TV.

My sweet Mischief :)

A friend's horse

My pup loves to be under blankets :)

Patches after a walk :)

Fall or Autumn, whatever you call it, is beautiful!

I know I've been posting more photos than writing, but it has just been so beautiful!  I hope you all aren't bored :)

Day 19 - A picture of home.

I'm blessed to have many places to call home and confused enough to never know which is really "home."  I've actually been giving home a lot of though lately.  Home seems to be a physical location for many people.  For me, there are too many locations to choose.  Here a few options.

This was one of my homes in London.  I rented a room, sharing this house with two others singles.  I've since moved further into London.

My current address in the USA with extended family

My second home in Southern Africa

My childhood home in the USA

My first home in Southern Africa

I used to think "home" was my family.  That definitely ties into my sense of home, but even that has it's challenges.  My parents live in Southern Africa, my sister and other relatives live in North America, and I'm living in Europe.  If home depends upon my family, then I'm very rarely at home.

I still struggle with the concept of home, but I'm learning to find my home in God.  It doesn't always come easily to me but Psalm 91:1 teaches: "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty."  Generally, we rest when we are at home. I believe when I rest in the shadow of the Almighty, I'm at home with God.

Day 18 - A picture of Plans/dreams/goals you have.

Travel is a dream of mine that has been partially fulfilled but I keep dreaming!  

I enjoy learning bits and pieces of other languages, but so far, English is the only language I speak fluently.  I'd like to change that!  I've found that I learn language very quickly when using it every day.  Hopefully someday I can combine travel with language study and be forced to learn another language fluently!  

Day 17 - A picture of something weird/different you do on a regular basis.

It's not very popular in the USA yet, but I love getting my eyebrows threaded (rather than waxing).  I first learned about threading from a good friend from India.  My one friend F, a sweet Iranian lady, does this for me when I'm in London.  It hurts a bit, but the results are great!

Day 16 - A picture of a hobby you once had.

Matopos Hills

As a child, I LOVED to go climbing every place possible.  Rocks such as these were spots that shaped my childhood imaginations!

Day 15 - A picture of a movie you can watch over and over again.

Love it :)

Day 14 - A picture of someone you admire.

Taken March 2008

My Momma and I on my birthday

She has a faith in God that I truly admire.  

She has patience with her headstrong family and a deep love for everyone.  

She is the type of person one can just relax with and feel at peace.  

She's an amazing woman!  

I'm so blessed to have been raised by her!

Love you, Mom :)

Salve Regina University

As I mentioned earlier, I was in New England visiting friends this weekend.  One of my friends is doing his MBA at Salve Regina and we met up in the town of Newport, RI.  We had a lovely day walking around the town and seeing the school.  I definitely noticed the English part of New England!  We fortunately had a gorgeous day for exploring Newport.

 

Day 13 - A picture of somewhere you’d love to travel.

Istanbul.  The places I'd love to travel are numerous, but Istanbul is a city I hope to visit in the next few years.

Day 12 - A picture of someone you miss.

Dad and Momma :)

Taken in December 2009 at Pizza Hut in London :)

Day 11 - Another picture of you and your friends.

Cardiff Castle

Vali, myself, & Cee

New England foliage

I was able to visit some friends who live in New England.  The leaves were gorgeous.  I believe I made the trip at the perfect time.  Leaves only just started to fall this weekend, so most were still there to be admired.  I love the colours!  These pictures were taken near the town of Mystic, Connecticut.

Day 10 - A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most.

I'm blessed by people who have gotten me through a lot.  Community is very important to me and they are such a blessing.  I'm so thankful for my family.

A quick trip to the Farm

I had to make a quick trip down to the 'boro today.  I love watching these little guys skip around the pasture.  When I went over to their fence. they became rather curious.  Too cute :)