Singing in Church

Here is a church that is not the one we go to, but isn't it beautiful. Well the church that my in-laws go to was having a united service with a bunch of churches around the area, and at the last minute the singer who was supposed to sing at the service got sick and I was asked on Sunday morning to sing at the Sunday night united service with the team. They had heard from somewhere that I was a singer and decided to ask me to do it. So last night I sang with them after a short rehearsal right before the service (learned a few new songs). It was a fun time, and turned out to be a very nice service. Hopefully I will get the chance to do it again soon. We had such a nice time singing some hymns (which I had never heard before) as well as some more contemporary Christian worship songs. The best part was that all of the songs were in a nice key where I got to sing up high where my voice sounds the best! I had a blast, and people seemed to enjoy the music and worship time, and I got a lot of compliments too which was nice.

Haircut

Here is my new look! After thinking about it for a while, since before we moved over here, I decided now would be a good time to get a nice short haircut. The short hair look is pretty popular around here, so I should fit right in. But the reasons for cutting my hair were basically a couple of big ones. I love growing my hair long and then cutting it short and then growing it and cutting it and so on because it is fun. Plus I thought about cutting in the summer, but then thought that is would be silly to cut my hair before winter, but after I got here I started thinking that short hair would make it look cool when I wear all those scarves that people wear anyway around their neck because it is cool and damp in the winter. With long, hair and wearing scarves, the hair often gets tangled more easily, but not with short hair. Plus the really kicker was the water here! We have hard water that absolutely does not rinse anything out of my hair, and with it so long and thick, it was pretty impossible to get my hair clean. The other real issue with the water is that the shower we have is sort of a light sprinkle of water and does not have any water pressure whatsoever, so that doesn't help to rinse out my hair at all. I have been washing it at the gym every day because they have good water pressure, but thought it might be nice to wash my hair at home once in a while. So long story short (literally long hair to short hair get it?) Here is my new look.

R.I.P. Jack Paveley

Today we went to a funeral for Neville Claude David Paveley (known to all his friends as Jack)who was the long time next door neighbour of the Webb family for Tim's whole life and recently died at his home at the age of 94. Jack was a butcher and hence where his nickname Jack comes from; for some reason it was common to call butchers Jack. Phil (my brother-in-law) came up from Southampton for the funeral. We went to the ceremony at the crematorium and then to a nice old Manor hotel for lunch afterwards. It was a very nice ceremony, but a bit somber in the actual room. I think I would have much preferred it in a church. Phil and I had a long discussion following as to where we might like to be buried or cremated and sprinkled. Phil's idea was a sprinkling in all his favorite places which would take up the better part of a week most likely depending on the distance between locations, but I was thinking maybe just choose one place but most definitely feel bad about taking up space in the ground. So we shall see... By the way, this is not a picture of Jack's church and gravestone, but I forgot my camera, and the crematorium was not very picturesque to photograph.

Hanging the Washing on the Line

Well, today after going to the gym and a meeting with a bunch of ladies from Bishop's Stortford Baptist Church, I cam home to hang out the washing on the line. I had put the load in just before we went out (my mother-in-law and I), and then since it is nice and sunny now, I put it out to dry. Unfortunately the days of it being nice and sunny and warm out are numbered, and soon we will be resorting to hanging the clothes on racks and over radiators all over the house. (Note: This is not what all English people do. Some even have tumble dryers which I will buy when we get a house of our own.) This country is pretty damp in the cooler weather as you can imagine, and hanging clothes outside in damp weather often does absolutely nothing to get them dry if that makes any sense. Well anyway, some things are just not for everyone. I think I will hang things outside in the summer and use the tumble dryer in the winter that way when your clothes come out of the dryer, they can be all snuggly warm which is just what you need in the damp cold winters isn't it?

Driving on the Wrong Side of the Road!

Well, Monday was my first driving lesson in 10 years not because I don't know how to drive, but because I needed to learn how to drive on the "wrong" side of the road as well as learn how to drive stick all at the same time. The other side of the road thing would be much easier to concentrate on if it weren't for the fact that my hands and feet are both doing a bunch of different things at the same time. Other than that, it didn't go to badly. I practiced using the gears to shift up and down and the hand break to use for stopping and going for turns and hill starts etc. It was fun, but we didn't do any roundabouts yet. I am hoping to do that on my next lesson, and then I should be good to practice with Tim and learn to drive that way. I don't have to take a driving test until the end of me being here a year, but I want to take it as soon as I feel confident and while I am still adhering to the rules and not driving like a pro the way some people do around here once they get really good at it. Hopefully my day will come for that!

The Quaint Village of Stansted

The Church.

The Webbs sitting in the churchyard, Aww!

The Indian Restaurant, Yum!

The Green Grocer's Shop

The Terrace Houses

Here are just some of the sites around our little village. We are enjoying the nice scenery as well as the fresh air (did I mention the fresh air before?)

Friends

I just have to post this really quickly. I am so glad that I have friends like Vanessa. She is one of my most encouraging and faithful friends. I think God totally lets us in on the secret of true relationships when he gives us friends like this. I just got a couple of very encouraging e-mails from friends, and I wanted to say thank you to all of them, especially you who are reading my blog to be a witness to my life and the things that I am going through. Thank you all for supporting me by reading this and for all your encouragement throughout my big change in life. I hope I can still be there for you all as much as you are still here for me. I love and appreciate all of you!