Autumn Watch

This is a program that is on in the fall which explores all around England in terms of the natural happenings of the season with discussions about animals etc. There are a lot of viewers who write in about different things they are seeing and with questions they would like answered. These guys try to advise people about what to plant and what to harvest etc. They also have a program like this in the spring called....Spring Watch of course! Today I went for a walk with the local history society doing a "field study" which felt a bit like an autumn watch in Stansted. We walked all around the village and looked at the sites of Stansted which have history attached to them as well as natural interests. We saw the sites of old bridges, where old town shops used to be and houses etc. before the railroad came to Stansted. We also saw a badgers latrine (very interesting) which taught us about the varied diet of the badgers as well as their cleanliness evidenced by the fact that their toilet was pretty far away from their home and they appear to always go in the same spot. We walked for a while, but pretty slowly considering I was the only participant under age 50! I also have a cold so I was sniffling all the way and was really running out of tissues by the time we finished. Anyway, I ended up at my mum-in-law's for a "lemsip" which is a drinkable medicine for colds orignially with lemon flavor, but mine was black currant. We had a very civilized tea and a chat and then I walked home feeling very villagey. Now I am back at home trying to get the jokes in an old program called Dad's Army which Tim likes but I don't really understand. I am coughing a lot so I will stop writing now and make another cuppa.

Cottage DIY

Our New House!

Yes, it has been a very long time since I last posted. Apologies for my lack of updates. For those of you who are dying to know what is going on in the world of webb, here it is...We bought a house! Here is is, our little character cottage we bought. It is in Stansted, where we are a five minute walk from the in-laws and a 2 minute walk from the train to London. For those of you who may be thinking of planning to visit us, we still have to fix up the spare room, but there are more pictures to follow of all of our hard work! We managed to get the house just before our trip back home in August, and we also managed to paint it and do the floors. That meant that we had to move all of our stuff in after we came back and before Tim went back to work at his new job. Yes, that's right he is a "proper" teacher now, but that is another story. Anyway more house DIY pictures to follow.

Springtime in England

Here is a picture of the lovely oilseed rape that grows all over the fields apparently normally in June but this year came early and has been growing all of May. I see all these fields on my drive to work every day. There is nice scenery the whole way to work which is good because there is a lot of traffic and sometimes it takes me an hour to get home. I have been getting used to a lot of changes recently, thus the recent silence on my blog. Sorry about that! I will try to continue to write more starting now. I have been adjusting to my new job which has made me utterly exhausted along with living in someone else's house which makes the entire week much more hectic in terms of schedules. The new job is different to say the least, but I am glad to be working again. I already have ideas of how to improve the whole job because I am disillusioned with the NHS system of providing speech therapy. I may end up working privately or in a special school in the long run just to be able to provide good services for kids. Other than that, the people I work with are nice, so that is good. i am doing lots of driving around though. That is nice but also means that it takes time out of my day and I can't do as much as I would like to considering the mountain of paperwork that goes along with seeing each kid. I can see the superiority of the US speech therapy services. Besides the job, Tim and I are also still working on moving out of the house as soon as we can. This is also another change we are trying to prepare for. In the meantime, I joined a new gym so that I can work out before or after work on the way to and from so that I can skip some of the traffic and get a work out too! Lots of changes are going on for us at the moment, so typical of spring on the whole. We are looking forward to moving out and visiting home soon!

House Hunting

Since I just started my new job yesterday, Tim and I are very excited to start looking for a place of our own. It will be great to get to set up house in our own space, and now that I am working it will be easier to get going with that plan. It just so happens that David Lee Estate Agency is in Stansted and Lee (of David Lee) lives 2 doors down so we have talked to him about finding us a place. Above are some pictures of houses in Stansted and Bishop's Stortford which is typical of the houses that are around here. The one with the cream and brick house is a few houses together which is typical as well and these houses are called character cottages. That means that they have quaint features and are much older. The new houses are like the one on the left which are much more modern but thoroughly boring looking inside and out. So I think we are going for a character cottage (which will be small but hopefully we can make it work). All the houses are smaller here anyway so it's a non issue and at lease we will get to be on our own!

Tim Got Dunked!

Just a quick note to say that Tim got baptized on Easter Sunday at our church. He has been a Christian since childhood but never took this brave step. He was a little nervous talking in front of the church but did a great job and even got dunked in twice because he didn't go all the way under the first time! It was a good day. His parents and his brother came and all of our friends were there supporting Tim. I am very proud of him!

Book Review: The Reason for God

I read this in 2 days because I borrowed it from a friend and I had enough spare time to do so. It was a good, logical and well organized discussion of some of the key arguments against God with practical explanations of evidence for the existence of God. It also covered why and how the God of Christianity is the only true God without being preachy or trite. A good read for initial research into Christian apologetics. Next, I will get into more detail with writings by C.S. Lewis and Ravi Zacharias who are both brilliant and can get into a different intellectual realm when it comes to these tough discussions. But, this one is definitely easy to digest without leaving out important details which is why it is so good. Check it out!

Book Review: Deception Point

Dan Brown again! I read his other books, The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons in that order and finally got around to this one. I have to say that his books are good for a page turner and a quick and easy read. That is good because they are a bit like an action adventure movie with more action than character development or other literary aspects. There are a lot exciting plot twists which you come to expect with his writing and start to predict after getting to know his style. Apparently there is one other book by him that I could read, Digital Fortress, but by now I may be able to completely predict the entire book's worth of plot twists so I am not sure it will be worth it. So I will probably wait a while before I go after that one once I finish my reading list (which is pretty long). Anyway this one is about a scientific discovery that comes at a critical time during a presidential election, and the details of the discovery could have a dramatic effect on the election as well as the world of science in general. So if you like science, you might actually see all the holes in his scientific events and descriptions and therefore may not be all that gripped by it, but if you can just enjoy it however far-fetched it may be, it is an exciting ride.

Book Review: Journey Into God's Heart

I have just finished reading a book by Jennifer Rees Larcombe who is an famous English Christian speaker and writer. She came from a Christian family heavily involved in ministry and quite famous in the UK. Her story is about a lot of things in her life. This is a book she wrote much after many of her other ones about God healing her and other spiritual topics. This one is very personal though. She admits a lot about herself and her difficulties and what is really going on under the surface of a life like hers. She has certainly been through a lot, but the great thing about the book isn't that she dealt with everything amazingly well and God just brought her through it and made everything work out (cause a lot didn't) but that she told how she learned things from simple occurrences in her life and how she processed through them going through all kinds of phases and learning to accept different things along the way. I can't really describe it well, but it is very interesting and encouraging for anyone living a Christian life.

British Obsession with Potatoes

Have I mentioned before that British people eat a lot of potatoes. Well, they certainly do. In fact I think it counts as a vegetable in a meal with just meat and potato. They eat them with every meal: breakfast potatoes, baked potatoes for lunch, boiled potatoes, French fried potatoes with fried fish. The problem with that is that although it is a vegetable, it is a really a starch and does not contain the nutrition that many other vegetables do such as greens and other healthy essentials. So, needless to say I am a bit sick of potatoes and I also feel that someone needs to let these Brits know that they need to eat "real" vegetables and more importantly raw ones! If you go into a restaurant and order a meal it may come with a salad garnish even if it says it comes with salad, but it will be a leaf of lettuce with a slice of cucumber and tomato with no dressing. In terms of hot veggies, they are usually just boiled with little to no seasoning on them. No wonder no one wants to eat salad and vegetables! So, here's my advice to solve the potato issue: Get into fresh vegetables and learn how to make a nice salad dressing with the basics- olive oil and vinegar and herbs. Also learn how to bake, steam or saute veggies with olive oil or other healthy oil and season them with fresh or dried herbs and spices. Don't be afraid of a little flavor! It might actually make things taste better!

Book Review: P.S. I Love You

Well, with a title like that, you know it's gonna be a major chick flick, I mean book. Wait a minute...yes this book cover is a picture from the movie. The problem with this book is that it is probably much better as a movie and much cheezier as a book. See, with a chick flick you can take a little bit more cheez, but not with a book. You want some meat, some tapestry threads weaving in an out, some character development, some interesting twists. Not the case with this book, in fact, I am still wondering how the book got to be so long with so many pointless pages. Shouldn't someone have edited it and at least said, cut the crap, develop the characters?! Well, I guess the author, Cecilia Ahern did not learn what we did in High School which was summed up in a couple of famous quotes: "Brevity is the soul of wit."-William Shakespeare and another one which paraphrased sounds like: "The art of good writing is never using two words when one will suffice."-No Clue who said it other than my history teacher.

So what is the deal with the book? Sentimental fluff based on the death of a young girl's hubby from a brain tumor who before he died wrote a series of notes for her to open for 10 months after his death. In each one, she is living for what he is telling her to do, little fun things and big tough things like getting a job. each one she does while life around her is moving ahead especially with her friends. It sounds interesting but really it is too fluffy and things happen to predictably and unrealistically that it just ends up being trite instead of meaningful. That's what I think! But I have heard that the movie is ok, so I might check that out at some point to compare. For now I am no to a more intellectually stimulating book....To Be Continued

Quarter Life Crisis

Have you heard of this? I hadn't until I checked my hotmail and saw this article and thought, is that what I have been going through for the past few months? Well, one thing is for sure and that is that I am certainly not where I wanted to be at the age that I am, and I certainly do think about it constantly trying daily to do what I can to close the gap on my plan and my actual achievement. Here is a quote from the article I just read.

"There’s a strong message in society that women are expected to have a successful career, a good salary, strong friendships, a toned body, have found their life partner, be married and have children all by the time their 35. We only need to switch the TV on or open a magazine to be bombarded with images of successful career women with perfect figures and a happy, chuckling baby balanced on their hip, holding down a busy job, kissing their perfect husband, all the while smiling broadly to the camera. Even to the most dynamic amongst us, it can make life seem pretty impossible. So, how can today’s woman compete with that kind of propaganda?"- Liz Frost, Are you Heading for a Quarter Life Crisis?

You remember how this used to happen to middle aged men who suddenly felt their youth slipping away and start working out and cheating on their wives with younger women. This is a completely different thing somehow and much worse. This is when you haven't even lost your youth yet, but you feel like you haven't gotten to where you are supposed to be yet, and time is running out.

Apparently this happens more to women and I think that makes sense to me. All the women I know seem to have an internal planner that men don't seem to have. Tim doesn't worry about where he is compared to other guys, at least I don't think so. I guess the problem really is that these internal planners seem to have been written by outside imposed expectations. I think the media is involved, but basically its comparison with other people. Women love to compare, and even when they fancy themselves absolutely-one-hundred-percent-individually minded wonder how they are really measuring up to other women if they seem to be lagging behind. They are the ones who make excuses like, "Oh that's not my thing, I like to go against the grain. I just don't worry about that kind of stuff." YEAH RIGHT! They do, I know because, I fancy myself absolutely-one-hundred-percent-individually minded but I am totally not when it comes to this stuff. I am vulnerable to these comparisons of trends, conventions and TRADITION.... TRADITION! Get the musical theatre joke there? This whole comparison thing wouldn't be so bad except that there is probably too much choice out there and we are unsure if we are ever making the right decisions to get us to these goals. Unfortunately not a lot of these choices are really in our control, but we are lead to believe that they are. And when we start comparing, we certainly think if we only get ourselves under control we could get to where we wanted faster.

Well, I think what we all need is some self- esteem and faith. You don't get anywhere without self-esteem that's worth going, and you certainly get nowhere without faith. Like for example, it is not under my control how many houses are on the market in my price range, but I gotta have faith that God will give us the house He wants us to have. It's not a matter of control, it's a matter of surrender and acceptance (which I am slowly learning, turtle-slow that is). So I don't know really, but I think it's an ongoing process. The important thing as always is to be "in the moment" accept things as they are so you can enjoy them without wishing away your entire life trying to get somewhere and then realizing that you got to a lot of places but spent the whole time at each one, looking at the map and missed the scenery on the way. I don't know where all this wisdom is coming from, but I think part of it is what I need to tell myself, so I guess it all came out like a pep talk to all women who may be undergoing a Quarter Life Crisis. Let's seize the day and enjoy what we're learning huh?

6 Months in Stansted

So This month has marked the half-year that we have been living in England. Woohoo! Well, not exactly. Most of you who have been reading know that things have NOT gone amazingly smoothly all the time we have been here. For one thing, I haven't even started working yet and we are barely earning any money. That has been tough. As I remember what we were thinking when we decided to move here, I think it is much more than we bargained for and then some. We are still hoping to move out of the in-laws house as soon as Tim gets a job lined up. We are hoping that will be beginning of the summer. We might live here in Stansted or we might move to Bishop's Stortford where our church is and where it is a bit more busy. This picture here is pretty much the down town of Stansted which is where the train station is. There are maybe 2 traffic lights in the village, but not even any roundabouts either. It's more of a , -get to the intersection see who's coming and go- kind of thing with driving in Stansted. Oh yeah and this building is the King's Arms, a pub, one of 3 that I know of in Stansted. Bet you like the little mini castle tower effect! So anyway we are looking forward to getting a place of our own with or without a castle tower (just kidding), but we are looking for a small house with character. This is mainly because it's either that or a small house without character! It should be fun!

O Deer!

This is a muntjac deer that is an inhabitant of the woodlands near the house and around this area. These are much smaller than regular deer which is why I was very confused when I kept seeing them over a period of a few days. I had thought of all the things it could be but still thought it was related to deer or in the deer family somehow. I thought it was a cross between a goat and a deer but the size of a baby deer somehow. Apparently these deer are called the "barking deer" because of the strange barking noise they make which sounds like barking and is pretty loud. I didn't hear any barking, but I did finally talk to someone who knew what these creatures were because we spotted one in the woods by the side of the house and said, "Oh, there's a muntjac deer." I was so grateful to not be going crazy seeing these things that I had also considered could be baby moose! Well, that mystery is solved. We definitely don't have muntjac deer in NJ.

Book Club

Well I recently joined a brand new book club. Actually it was started by one of the girls from my boot camp class that meets 3 times a week at 6:30am. We are hard core! Anyway, so we all thought it would be cool to do a book club. So far, we have only had one meeting last Friday night. We read the book, A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, and pretty much no one liked it. Oh well, it was still a great time. We met at Gloria's house who organized the club, and she cooked us a very nice and healthy meal. It was all around a fun night. So the thing with our book club is that we take turns having around different people's houses and choosing a book to recommend. This one was chosen by Gloria, and next we are Ellie's and to be reading P.S. I Love You which is admittedly trash by Ellie who recommended it. Anyway, I am sure it will be much more fun to read than this last one which was pretty sad all around. The theme of the book is a first generation Ukrainian family with 2 sisters trying to take care of their aging father (after the death of their mother) with his issues of getting involved with a younger woman from Ukraine who is just after UK residency. The relationships are all very strained but it is clear that everyone is trying to do what they think is right while accepting their lot in life. She (the author) seems to have captured the tone of life post-refugee camp and life post-war. These characters, we decided, were not developed as much as they could have been, especially the male characters. It was also pretty difficult to get into and a bit slow moving, the slowest parts being the interjected chapters of a book about tractors written by the aging father. So, that is my short, short history of the sad book about tractors in Ukraine.

Job Offer

Well, without further ado, I would like to admit that I have been offered a job. I am currently in the process of "pre-employment" as they call it because I am waiting for my salary approval and also for my criminal background check to be completed. This, they tell me, may take a long time, so I am still waiting. But, this does mean that I have a job at the end of the tunnel, finally! What a relief! Now, it's just a matter of time until I can actually work, and meanwhile i can enjoy the free time I have left to do other things like work on my craft stuff and read some books etc. I am definitely looking forward to actually working in a real job again, but part of me wonders how much I would have forgotten and how long it will take me to get back into the swing of things. We shall see. So my new job, is working as a Speech Therapist for the National Health Service (NHS) so it's a government job. I am working with children and am based at a health clinic but will travel to different schools to see children there. I have no idea what it will be like other than that, but the team that I will be working on is good. They all seem nice, especially my line manager. So I am looking forward to making friends with all of them soon. So my guess is that by my birthday I should have started working, which would be great, because Tim and I are looking to move out over the summer and I need to have a pay check to show someone in order to get a mortgage. Tim is also interviewing for jobs in September which is good and he is hoping to find something suitable soon. It seems like things are looking up now in a lot of directions.

Painting Crew

One day, in order to earn some extra money, Tim and I and Elise agreed to help my dad paint the hallway of the apartment building he owns in Newark. Here we all are after the long day! We took most of the day painting the ceilings and the walls including the yucky brown color on the bottom half of the walls. There are three floors that we painted, and all of us were working together all day. As my sister will attest to, this was not the first time that our whole family has spent time painting. It is a long tradition in our family. So since we had so much practice doing painting, Tim and have kept up the tradition by painting every place we've lived in since we got married. We are pretty much a professional painting crew at this point which is of course why my dad hired us for the job. (That and the fact that Tim and I could definitely use the money while we were out there. Oh yes, and the sign we are holding says, "Careful, fresh paint, banister painted too." It had to be in Spanish because everyone who lives in the building speaks Spanish and some of them don't speak much English. What can I say it's Newark! All in all we did have a fun time painting, and we got free lunch and a check at the end of the day to ease the back pain!

Visits With Friends

While I was home, I spent some time visiting with my good friends. On the right are friends from Liquid church, my girls: Vanessa, Kristie and Esther! On the left are my work friends from the Hearing Impaired Program school where I worked. We had a nice dinner after work at a cute restaurant with yummy food just around the corner from the school. It was great to catch up with my old friends who reminded me of what I missed and remembered me the way I always was at home. Being back in NJ with all its charm was definitely good for my personality , and I enjoyed being a part of my old life again. I also got to hang out with my grandparents and in CT and visited with my cousin Renee. That was great, and I enjoyed the drive to CT in my parents' car. The rest of my time at home I split between hanging out at home with my parents and sister, babysitting, reading, watching movies and painting.....SEE NEXT POST.

There's No Place Like Home

This is where I have been the last two weeks. Ok so it actually didn't snow at all while I was there which was a bummer because it snowed 5 inches the day after I flew back across the pond. It would have been nice to enjoy one last snow storm, but oh well. We seem to be on to spring here in England. I enjoyed being home though. I guess I was too busy visiting with family and friends to even think about blogging so that's why it's been a while. I caught up on some movies, reading, eating awesome home-cooked meals and salads. My sister and I spent some quality time together mostly arguing and watching movies and shopping. Hey, it's what sisters do! I caught up with old friends which was refreshing. Also, the best part was getting a chance to hang out with my own hubby. Yes, that's right, we had much more time to hang out than we ever do where we live, what with his school work taking up every evening and weekend with no time together to speak of. That was great! All together it was great to be home!

Billboard Irony

"How else to explain the billboard fiasco above our church offices in Mo'town?"

....."Makes me wonder what's in store with this one..."

These are two pictures recently seen on Liquid staff blogs. To refer to my previous blog, is the church changing that quickly? The quotes below each picture are taken directly from the staff blogs, and I think they are certainly ironic. Don't you think? a little too ironic? First, the showing of female flesh next to a church billboard is a "fiasco" joke, next it is actually promoting a series at Liquid. I ask again, is the church changing that quickly? Where will it end?

Liquid Church on Thin Ice!

Greetings to friends of Liquid Church, now featuring the iCampus where people from all around the world and even NJ can watch messages on a screen. Isn't technology advancing so much that these things are even possible? It's amazing what things we can create given a little God-given creativity and it really works at bringing people along to church and getting them interested. Well, who wouldn't with advertisement like this? Yeah, I know, I would think it is as eye catching as a poster for a new club downtown, or is it? It's supposed to be a flyer advertising the new series at Liquid Church. They are going to be discussing Love, Sex, and everything in between- God's way! Sounds like a really exciting topic, and if I know Pastor Tim, he will do it with zest, creativity and sound Biblical teaching. It will surely be interesting to listen to no matter what stage of life you are in I think. The problem that is sticking in my mind is not where their heart is with the purpose and content of the series; on the contrary, I think it is important to discuss these topics which have long been taboo in many church settings. The problem is the way they are enticing people in. While this kind of image may be eye catching (obviously including Barbie legs has been known to work for years at selling anything) it reminds me of images of things in the world which are aimed at getting things to sell using sexual imagery that exploits women's bodies. Now, I know they are only legs, but guys, help me out here, can your imagination do anything with this image? I know my mind immediately brings up associations of alcohol ads, night clubs, sexy video store stuff etc. This is not because I am into dirty stuff that is on the forefront of my mind either. It's because this looks "just like" the stuff the world puts out there for a variety of reasons.

There is also a video that goes along with this picture advertising the series which can be viewed on facebook. Check out the following link to view the page entitled "Heat: The Series" http://www.facebook.com/pages/HEAT-the-Series/45687008546
This page contains the promo video, desktop media, iPhone wallpaper and an online invitation to send to your friends through facebook. The invites are guy and girl, meaning an image of a girl's legs or a guy's chest to be aimed at each gender group. I don't know about you girls, but something spicy like this image with Barbie legs on it or a Ken doll's chest does not look like something that would entice me. I don't see the point in the desktop wallpaper because it seems like a really "Christian" way of getting degrading fleshy (albeit cartoons) representational images into your electronic toys. The video contains "pron" style music played over a cartoon-like scene of 3 guys on the beach checking out the hot legs of Barbie walking past even including a zoom in on her upper thighs. Is all this necessary? In fact, it makes me sad and concerned that this is apparently the chosen option for encouraging people to come and hear great truth from the word of God. Please check out the facebook page so you will see what I mean. Is there a positive effect that this can have on your soul? If you just read this post, you may get the impression that I am just being righteously indignant for no reason, but check it out, think about it and then respond with what God puts on your heart. Here are some verses for inspiration:

Philippians 4:8 (NIV)

4Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Romans 12:2 (NIV)

2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

1 Corinthians 2:11-13 (NIV)

11For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.

James 4:4-5 (NIV)

4You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?

John 17:13-15 (New International Version)

13"I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.

Conclusion: I think we need to watch out that our message is true, honest and clear about what God says and more importantly who He is! I would be ashamed to invite friends to this series just because of the promo stuff; it seems like false advertising to me. We aren't selling sex are we? We are encouraging learning and growing in the truth of God and Christian living in 2009. So if you are a friend of Liquid Church, please pray for its leaders and God's hand in what is going on there. It is a great thing to be a growing church, and pray that God will continue to bless people involved and coming in for their first encounter with God and that it would be a place where people can meet with God and worship Him and learn about Him without anything getting in the way!

Britons and the Snow

Well, local articles have been talking about the snow non-stop in every newspaper. Basically the whole Island came to a standstill. Here is our road before it got plowed. Yes, the plow did come, but they didn't plow many back lanes where lots of people live which causes a problem. And you know how in the states, there is a law that says that you have to clear your area of sidewalk in front of your house so no one slips on it?........well they don't have that rule here, and no one clears it. So the sidewalks are still very treacherous as we speak 3 days after the snow. In fact, the snow is still not cleared properly in lots of places, so much so that some things were still canceled because of the snow today! Not because of more snow today mind you, the snow on Monday! Can you believe it? I couldn't especially because we got the most, and the most was around 4 inches of snow. The problem is that since they only get snow every 18 years (yes that is the is the last time it snowed this much!) they have no idea what to do. No one thinks it is important to shovel their driveway, and the town doesn't feel responsible for making the roads safe, so they tell everyone to stay home. Then the complaint is that England lost millions of pounds due to no one at work for 2 days. Well, here is my solution oh Great Britain: Either plow the snow or deal with money loss! Well, anyway I enjoyed the snow, and I hope you enjoyed the pictures. This snowfall was certainly a momentous occasion around here. And they think it may snow again today, but as we speak it is raining, so who knows, maybe we are back to normal!

Snow Day Scenes

Snow Day in Stansted

It is officially a snow day here in Stansted. In fact, many of the schools around the area are closed today. Both of my in-laws and Tim were off school today due to the snow. I have to say that we are lucky, because normally in this little snow we would have probably just had a delayed opening back at home if anything depending on the area. So we were able to go out for a snowy walk and take tons of pictures and video footage in the beautiful snow. I better soak it up now, because this amount of snow is very rare I am told. So I hope we have the chance to take a few more shots later one today. The great thing is that everything here is already so quaint that when it gets covered in snow it is even more quaint that things usually get back at home. I will post some more pictures to follow this post so you can see what I mean. But, some of the funny things are one: people are not shoveling anything, two: no one has dusted off their cars mainly because they don't think the snow will last at all and there has never been a need to clear the snow before it freezes. It is very funny, and I am slightly worried we will have a sheet of ice all on our driveway and all the sidewalks on our roads by tomorrow. The world does seem to stop at the first sign of snow here, and it seems no one is intending to leave their house until the thaw. Ha. I can't imagine leaving it until the thaw back at home due to the fact that it may not fully happen until March! But they are certain it will thaw, and if it doesn't they just won't get out until it does! No one in NJ would be able to get away with that. We would have to get back to work the next day for sure! Well anyway, we are going to enjoy our snow day today and have some hot cocoa and watch movies! I have one thing to say to Elise, but first I need to squeeze her cheeks: squeezing: Now Elise, you know what you have to say........"Let it shnooOow!"

Alpha Course

At our church they have several Alpha courses going on that just started in January. These are something that I have not been familiar with in the past but are pretty common around here. The course is mainly discussions based on Christianity and allows non-Christians and Christians to discuss things and ask and answer questions about what they believe. It is a great thing for people who are thinking of becoming Christians to do especially so they can find out what they need to know and discuss some of the tough questions they may have. Also, it is great for Christians to discuss what they believe and why they believe certain things. Having to try to answer some of the tough questions often gives Christians a deeper understanding of their faith and trains them in apologetics so they can more convincingly defend their faith or even explain their beliefs in an honest and insightful way. I am going to one at our church which meets on Wednesdays and we have coffee and desserts and hear someone's testimony of their journey to faith in Jesus and followed by a themed talk and great questions to discuss in our smaller groups. I have enjoyed chatting with different people and exploring some very interesting theological topics. It is a great time every night. If you ever get a chance to do one, go for it, and I am sure you will enjoy it and learn a lot.

Health Professions Council

I have just received my approval from the Health Professions Council (HPC) that means I can officially work as a Speech Therapist in this country! Finally! In light of my recent blog* see Only in America post below* I would have to say this, "Only in Britain!" does paperwork take this long to actually come through so I can work in a field where they have a high demand for me! Anyway, I can get a job now since I have this registration and I have a car. I am just waiting for my special card and number to come in the mail and a call from the people I applied to yesterday. I am hopeful that I will get something lined up for when I return from NJ on Feb. 28th. Thank you to all of you who prayed for me to get this registration and who paid for my lunches and coffees in the meantime! It is much appreciated, and I know I will have a lot of favors to return as soon as I earn my first paycheck!

Note: this picture is the logo for the HPC and not some random metaphor for all the pieces finally fitting together in our new life (although it is a clever piece of symbolism, get it "piece")!

"Only in America!"

If you don't know (which you may not), Stephen Fry went to the US for a road trip that he narrated over video footage of himself doing things that he seemed to think we typical American things and going to typical American places in each of the 50 states. The key phrase is "he seemed to think" because there were a few things that did not well represent the states they were from. He intended to show Great Britain a realistic picture of life in the United States, but he still was somewhat biased and not necessarily well informed. For one thing, the only activity he took part in, in NJ was gambling in Atlantic City. Come on New Jerseyans, you know there is so much more to NJ than Atlantic City. I bet lots of you haven't even bothered to go because you are too busy on the beach, the boardwalk and at diners to bother gambling away your hard earned money!

Well aside from that and some other not-so-realistic representations, Stephen Fry did find a rather amusing difference between the Brits and the Americans that can be discussed with reference to this little phrase, "Only in America!" Now, think, when would you say that? Would you say it to mean that America is crazy and nothing goes right or that America is great and anything can happen? You choose. Quick because I am going to tell you the answer. 1 more second....time's up! Ok, it is usually used to refer to how great things are in America because of a cool thing that happens i.e. (this one's for New Jerseyans) You get to a diner very late at night and you know for sure you can still order your favorite chocolate chip pancakes which will just about hit the spot after a long hard drive through traffic on the parkway, and as you bite into the first mouthful, you thankfully and simultaneously exclaim (with a mouth full of pancake), "Ah, Only in America!" For those of you from different states, insert your own pleasurable American custom followed by the exclamation. You get my meaning right! It's like oh, yeah this is what is great about living in America, no where else can you get this feeling, opportunity etc.

Well, guess what! They have a similar phrase on the other side of the pond that goes like this, "Only in Britain!" Do you know how they use it? Right now you are wracking your brain trying to think of major benefits to living in the UK that compare to chocolate chip pancakes, I know, but here is an example. You are on vacation; you are headed to the beach, it is about 70 degrees Fahrenheit and it is August, the weather forecast is good; you get to your spot, lay down your blanket, run into the ocean for a quick icy dip, run back, pop open your picnic basket just as it starts to rain, and you say to yourself as you open your umbrella, determined to enjoy your sandwich, "Ugh Only in Britain!" Yes, you see, it is a much different sentiment for the people of Great Britain. Yes, they like some things about their country, but honestly they do seem to think too much about the US. They watch all our movies and shows for goodness sake. They know the grass is often greener in the US. Ok well maybe not the grass everywhere in the US, but you have to remember it rains pretty much every day in Britain so they are bound to have greener grass!

The moral of the story to all you Americans reading this is, be happy that in your country you can say, "Only in America" with a smile and pride because of your land of opportunity, whilst over in Britain, there are loads of wet Britainians grumbling about the weather over a pint in a dark, smelly pub sighing, "Only in Britain!"

Incidentally the picture of Stephen Fry here is of him in the beautiful desert of Arizona or New Mexico or something but the thing is this is one of those defining images and it happens, "Only in America!"

Country Walks

I went for a 5.5 mile walk with my mother-in-law which took us from our town of Stansted to Braintree and back through footpaths and around fields: the scenic route. We followed a map and directions in a book entitled 50 Walks in Essex. So we walked for about an hour and a half and then stopped at the pub for a lunch before continuing back home. It was a long walk, but not too tiring really. I had wondered if it would be muddy, but after having to scrape my boots every five minutes due to the colossal attachment of very sticky mud that was weighing my feet down, I realized that mud must be a given. I took a few pictures, and this one is of Digby Wood. It is so middle earth looking to me with the trees very green and ethereal. Other views from the walk included fields, fields, and more fields, oh yeah and a highway and a couple of old buildings i.e. churches and houses. It was definitely a tiring walk but very invigorating as usual. The only hiccups were the two huge blisters I got on my heels from not wearing two pairs of socks. Oh well, it was still a good walk. Maybe next time I will go with Tim for a more romantic country walk. P.S. The blisters are pretty much gone if you were wondering, but the boots are still muddy!

Recently Read: Waking the Dead

I also just read Waking the Dead by John Eldridge which was very interesting. It takes a look at why some or perhaps many Christians are living lives that are almost DEAD spiritually without really being sure what to do about it. They may feel a bit of malaise or some boredom now and then but they don't necessarily feel depressed (although they might). This is a situation that I think anyone can find them in if they are not careful and deliberate about their spiritual and emotional self. That may sound very self-centered, but it makes a lot of sense. When we are at our most healthy in those aspects we can end up offering the most to others and often the opposite is also true unfortunately. The book is not about "pampering yourself", but it does wake you up to the fact that you need to be in tune to yourself in a way that incorporates your whole being spiritually, emotionally, relationally and physically. It is an encouraging book but at the same time a challenging one. So read it and see if you can learn something new. I know I do not want to be dead anymore, not even asleep, I want to be fully alive and I think you might too!

Recently Read: A Long Way Gone

I have just finished reading this book, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, by Ishmael Beah. For those of you who have read it, you must have been very saddened by his story but also the story of the friends he had and lost during his life in the civil war in Sierra Leone. For those of you who haven't read it, it is a very honest real life depiction of the journey of Ishmael Beah from losing his family to becoming a soldier at the age of 13 to being rehabilitated and later speaking out against the atrocities of the war. He explores the thoughts that went through his mind at each stage of his very difficult childhood. It is one of those books that raises awareness about the struggles of children and families during the ongoing civil war and political unrest in Sierra Leone along with many other African countries today. Pick it up and read it, and recommend it to friends, but if you are feeling very enraged at life's unfairness to people in Ishmael's situation, go ahead and get involved! Go on a mission's trip, support financially, do research on other organizations who are trying to help the social structures of these countries and save the lives of people who have no other choice and no voice! Go ahead, make a difference, but don't just read the book.

The Rain in Spain?

Well how about the rain in England? You may have heard it said that it ALWAYS rains in England, but that is not strictly the case. The truth is that it ALWAYS rains in England in the winter! This is the real truth, and it is especially true in January I am told. Well, I have been here for 5 months now, and the weather has not bothered me very much.....that is.... until now. It has been rainy and gloomy for about a week straight, and while that may not sound that bad, you must remember that when it rains here, the daytime does come, but the sun does NOT come out! Yes, that's right, there can be a daytime without sun, but I am not really sure it counts in my book. I feel like the sun has been very lazy around here. For example, last week we had one or two sunny days, but the rest of the days, the sun chose to appear for about 45 minutes around noon-ish and then went back in and didn't return before nightfall. How rubbish!

But the funny thing is that the English are notorious for talking about the weather, even (I might add) when there is nothing interesting to talk about which is pretty much all the time. The weather is pretty constant I think compared to what we got back in NJ, so I ask you- What is there to talk about and Why do they do it then? The answer for this is a simple one, and it goes back to another traditional English custom. They do not talk about ANYTHING personal if at all possible. This I have found to be true, and I am sure that many English folk would agree with me that this is a common custom. Thus they resort to talking about the weather to avoid asking more personal questions such as, "How are you and how is your family?" etc. You get the point, the weather is just about as personal as many people get around here.

For someone like me who craves human interaction and relationships that are meaningful, that becomes extremely frustrating and difficult. How can they cope, without relating personally to another human being? I don't know, but one thing is for sure, if there was more acceptance of going to counseling or therapy of any sort, they would ALL have to go just to get their feelings (if they have any) out! I am sure that they do have feelings, but I believe that many of them push them so far underneath the surface that they do not even realize that they are there. I would consider this unhealthy, but many of the older generation especially lives that way and seems to survive. Whereas the younger generation may be changing the way of the American style of really talking to each other and relating to each other. I am hoping that I can be a pioneer in this social change and contribute much to this culture and its emotional development. So hold onto your hats, England, the winds are about to change and the only thing that may remain truly constant just might be the rain in the winter!

Hatfield Forest

Hatfield Forest is one of the many great National Trust places that I can go to in my new car. It's about 10 minutes away from the house and there are lots of lovely trees and a nice lake with plenty of places to walk around and take pictures of the wildlife. The National Trust is an organization that is responsible for the care and restoration of old fashioned stately homes and gardens for tourism. People can go and visit the stately homes and gardens and have coffee and soup and sandwiches and cakes in the cafe. Since my mother-in-law is a member of The National Trust, she has a card that gets her or us (if we take them with us) into these places for free. It is one of the many activities I will be taking advantage of now that I can drive. Don't you love the tree?

My New Car!

Say hello to my little friend! Yes, this is it; it's a 1993 Vauxhall Astra with 66,000 miles on it. It's not the youngest tool in the shed or the smartest chicken, but it will get me around town and maybe beyond, and the best part is: It's an Automatic! Yes, I know that everyone drives stick here, but I thought it would be better to master the WRONG side of the road first, and then tackle shifting gears so I can pass my test eventually. We bought the car from the mechanic where the Webb family traditionally shops for cars, so hopefully it will not disappoint, but if it does, we are only 25o quid (like "bucks" but for pounds) down. All in all, another answer to prayer! Not to mention the fact that this picture was taken about 4:30pm when last week it would have already been dark, so the days are getting longer, hurrah!

Sick of Sponge

Here in England, it appear that the sponge cake is definitely one of the most popular desserts found in shops, at tea times and at church socials everywhere. In fact, it may actually be the case that the sponge cake is the most religiously acceptable cake to make for a church social. There are some ladies who would be outraged if there were not at least 5 different sponge cakes being make for a church social event. I think it may even border on blasphemy! But as for me, being the rebel that I am, I have had it with sponge cakes. Although they are very light, fluffy and sweet, and they generally do hit the spot with a cup of coffee or tea, my body is telling me that it has had its fill of the sponge cake smorgasbord lifestyle. I think all the cake over the last few months has made me dislike the cake and begin to feel (upon just gazing at the cake) the way I would feel just after eating it: sick to my stomach with a headache and beginning to lose the will to live. I know it may sound dramatic, but I do believe that a combination of the wheat and sugar really puts be over the edge and then makes me feel sad that I went over the edge for no reason. So basically, I am so over the whole sponge cake novelty. Bring on some fresh fruit and yogurt anytime!

BTW: If anyone is interested, this is a picture of a Victoria Sponge cake named for Queen Victoria (because she liked it). It was named for her after she and some other ladies started the tradition of tea time in the afternoon around 4:00 which has become a traditional British standard (although now somewhat old fashioned). Also, the British standard for creating a proper sponge cake is from a recipe is as follows: 4 oz. flour, 4 oz. sugar, 4 oz. butter and 2 eggs with larger cakes being a doubling of this recipe as required.

Poetry Frozen in Time

As Emily Dickinson said, "Poetry is life distilled." Well, at the moment if you distilled my life then you would get this (my first poem written in England).

dungeon
of cavernous damp
the mold of old years
corroding me
like a plague
I can't cure.

then suddenly
there is a stirring,
stinging in my feet
my knees though weak
wish to spring forward
to run, but where?

can't move
almost out of air
what if this is my last breath?

By: Marissa Grace Pajot (my pen name)
circa November 2008

Those thoughts are now frozen in time just like my photo of the frosted branch. There is nothing I can do but look at that picture of my life at that moment and know that, sometimes that is just the way things are. Sorry for those of you who were hoping for something fun and happy this time. I hope to do more soon. Maybe I will write something else that is not so depressing. Maybe.