"I can't tell if the Anakin is finished cooking or not."

 

 So, things were looking rather bleak for Thursday around 3 in the afternoon. I'd done virtually nothing productive then showered and got back into my pajamas.

These were our sorry attempts to look epic

I thought that having lazy days aren't the worse thing that could ever happen so I tried to enjoy it. I listened to a sermon podcast, wrote out some postcards, listened to music, read my bible, did my nails and then showered. Well, after all of that I realized that I had just worked all the way through my lazy day list of things to do. I now had nothing else to do :(

I knew that there would be some hope in making dinner. After all, some of the best times so far had been closely related to dinner. I found Linda and told her the plan! Dinner would make up for our seemingly sad and unproductive day! We were trying to get inspired as to what we would make when I asked, "Well what theme should we do?" And what I meant by that was, 'What type of food should we have; Mexican, Creole, Chinese, Indian, etc.' Linda immediately answered, "Theme? like Star Wars theme?" That was enough to get us inspired. We would pick a completely unrelated word and build an awesome dinner around it! 

We didn't originally want to go with Star Wars so I threw Rainbow Brite out. We toyed with that for a bit and then decided we would look through the dictionary for a suitable dinner theme. We chose words at random by blindly pointing on random pages and we came up with 'snow job', 'financier' and 'gasket'. All of which proved much harder than you would think to build a meal around. So, Star Wars it was!

We began with the salad. We wanted to represent each course with an appropriate character or symbol from Star Wars. And if we are being honest, most of the time the salad is the annoying part of the meal. Especially if it's not a good salad. It's the less tasty thing that stands in the way of the delicious looking entree but you have to eat it because it has really important stuff. We decided on the 'Gungan Salad'; named of course after the Gungan race, represented in the movies mostly by Jar Jar Binks. Now, when you think about our salad choice it's so appropriate because everyone hates Jar Jar. He's so annoying, but without him they would have never gotten to Otoh Gunga! Alas, Jar Jar, while being the object of hate throughout the movies, was necessary.

Gungan Salad

The main course was tricky. There were so many pivotal points in the movie that it was hard to choose just one. One thing was clear, it had to symbolize one or both of the Skywalkers. We decided that the most emotional point is when Anakin fights Obi Wan Kenobi and really shows that he has in fact switched to the dark side. So we decided on breaded chicken breast. We thought it had to be a bird since they are called Skywalker. We realize that chickens don't actually fly but just go with it. We covered the breaded chicken with a homemade Marinara sauce that is supposed to signify the lava that burned Anakin. Then topped that with Mozzarella and baked it again so the cheese would look a bit like melting flesh. The asparagus is meant to represent the light sabors.

Anakin

Light Sab-asparagus

                                
                                                                            
       

The last course was our favorite! I am always partial to dessert as it is. At first, the idea for Death Star brownies was a joke but it really made sense after we put some thought into it. A huge part of defeating the Alliance was blowing up the Death Star. To serve as the last course we wanted something that resounded with finality and defeat. Something you could eat (destroy) and walk away feeling like there was still hope. Like even though it had all the chocolate (power) and sugar (money) and ultimate control of the fat you would gain (galaxy) you had the ability (force) to bring it to your mouth (justice)! We decided on little abstract versions of X-wings made out of aluminum foil and toothpicks just to add a touch of realism. 

    

Death Star, with Blue Milk and X-Wing

When it came to what we would be drinking we were really out of ideas. I couldn't really think of anything significant that related to beverages in the movies. So we scoured the internet in desperation. Surely, our plans for a galactically (not a word) important meal couldn't be vexed by the lack of Star Wars drinks! That's when we discovered wookiepedia.org. If you don't know it..... Well, I'm not even sure if I could recommend it. I thought as we were making the meal that maybe we would fall under the category of lame, lifeless, nerds but all that went away after discovering that site. The saddest part is that it was updated two days prior to us using it. WHAT NEW INFORMATION COULD THEY POSSIBLY HAVE FOUND!?!?!?!?!? It was quite sad. Anyway, Wookiepedia told us of a couple (probably a hundred!!!!) of different drinks straight out of Star Wars. Blue milk being one of them, which you will see featured with our Death Star Brownies, and another called Tihaar. Tihaar is a spirit that comes from distilled fruit. We used apple cider! Which was a bit of a disappointment.

Tihaar

 All in all, it was a very successful meal! Jon enjoyed it and probably thought that Linda and I should be spending less time at home alone together.

Linda destroying the Death Star

"All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking." Friedrich Nietzsche

If I get nothing else out of this three month long excursion I will at least have extremely toned legs. All of the walking that Linda and I have been doing has been really great for several reasons. Firstly, the exercise is wonderful, and it's easier to exercise in disguise. The gym is so overwhelming and intimidating sometimes that it's nice to say to yourself, "I'm just using my legs as a means to get to a place," even though that place is over 3 miles away from you. Secondly, I feel that you get to know a place better when walking. You don't have any excuse to miss landmarks. You see things that you just wouldn't see on a bus or in a car. You can also see more of the character of the place you are in when you learn back roads and places that are off the beaten track. It's exciting. But the most important reason that walking has been so great has been the conversation. I feel that given enough road, time and tobacco Linda and I might actually solve some pretty major issues through discussion and contemplation. Like world hunger.... 


It's always nice to see the the array of reasons that God puts us in certain places. It's a beautiful display of Faith/Love/God and so forth to know that you would follow Christ anywhere based on only one reason. Because at the time when you are called you can only perceive one of God's reasons for sending you. Then as you live out the will of God his multiple purposes unfold.


"Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Hebrew 11:1


It's far too often I look at the things in my life and feel jaded. Like somehow I got some short end of some stick. I feel like the best moments are the moments that God humbles me by showing me just how much he has blessed me with. All at once I have a new found appreciation for my friends and family and my life as a whole and I become contented in exactly where I am. Even if I am lost in a pit of confusion about where I'll end up in life. I can be excited about not knowing or caring because I see how God has blessed me so far.


Linda and I were discussing these verses the other day:


"Ask, and it will be given to you; Seek, and you will find; Knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. For which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!"   Matthew 7:7-11


How incredible is that! If anyone is ever not feeling special they should read those verses. How a God in heaven could want to shower us in great (heavenly) gifts is beyond me! But it definitely puts an end to any pity parties I ever have!


This passage was inspired by all of my friends and family! I couldn't have picked you out of a magazine. You all are the greatest people I've ever seen and I get to call you mine! I love you guys. You know who you are! I pray for heavenly gifts and blessings for you all!

No Room at the Inn

Saturday morning couldn't have been described as anything but full of excitement. We were going to LONDON!!! I felt as though I was going to actually meet Sherlock Holmes. I didn't bother myself with silly things like him being a fictional character that lived over 150 years ago. No! I was going to meet him and probably take tea with the queen, become the inspiration for a new sensational character in Wallace and Gromit and J.K. Rowling would ask me to star in a new magical story she was writing that would definitely make the silver screen!! These were just a few of the things I would accomplish in the 6-8 hours I would be spending in London.

So, we set out! Back packs, water bottles, breakfast to go, money, baby carrier, and our dreams, we were ready! We arrived at Jon's school and ate our breakfasts in the cafeteria. Other students started arriving, none of which could understand the seriousness of the day of adventure ahead of us. We finished eating, packed up and walked to the door, pushing past all of the other less enthusiastic day-trippers. Then it happened. Her footsteps were foreboding as they approached us. Slow and heavy. Then she spoke, "I wasn't aware that you were bringing your baby with you." She said it in that voice that really said 'I'm not excited at all about your adorable child. I'm just trying to sound pleasant while I systematically dismantle your hopes and dreams.'

"It's law that you have to have a seat reserved for him that we can put a baby seat in. I'll lose my license. So sorry."

Silence. What could we say? We were heart broken. We couldn't technically be mad at her because losing her license sounded pretty bad but at the time nothing sounded worse than my dreams leaping, suicidally, out of my heart and shattering on the ground. I could see the same blank, melancholy sadness emanating from Jon and Linda.

"Okay, well, we didn't have to bring a car seat the last couple of times we rode in the cars, but I understand. Thanks anyway," Linda delivered the words with such empathy. But as soon as we stepped outside and the sound of our downtrodden footsteps reached her ears tears began welling in her eyes. We remained silent for a few minutes until the disappointed hopes had almost made me cry as well. 

"F that crap! We're going to London! Train tickets on me!" I knew that no matter what we did that day, even if it was watching the last Led Zeppelin reunion tour with Paul McCartney and Jesus, in the back of our minds we would be saying, "Yeah this was super cool, it definitely couldn't have been as cool as all of that stuff we were going to do in London. Who even likes Wallace and Gromit anyway?" (gently weeping).I had caught the scent of London and nothing would keep me from it! (p.s. The Jesus part was a joke. Nothing would be cooler than hanging out with Jesus.)

Needless to say we went to London! We found way cheap bus tickets and it only took about 45 minutes to get there. We went first to Picadilly Circus and walked around a bit before walking through China town and Korea town! Jon showed us a department store that is over 300 years old! It was so fancy and uppity and well to do! Loved it. We met with Pastor Tonye and that was way more awesome than I ever could have expected! Their ministry there is blooming! It's really amazing to see so many people charged and amped for the same cause, and because they are so united they are making a huge difference pretty rapidly!

PT took us out to lunch! He wanted to take us to a sweet Ethiopian restaurant but it was closed and so was the only other Ethiopian place. It must have been an Ethiopian National holiday. Anyway, we got Thai food! So yummy! Then we went to Camden town, where he and the other missionaries are doing their ministry! It was amazing! It was old, like most of England, but had so much contemporary entertainment and had open street markets everywhere. It was full of life and electricity! Bustling with hundreds of people from hundreds of different countries and backgrounds. You could easily see that it was the hometown of Punk! The street markets were my favorite. Intermittently you would find a booth that had the most unique and awesome creations that were made by the booth owners. We saw eggshell paintings and Lego earrings and so much more! Linda and I were able to do some shopping and Tonye was able to do some eating, which appears to be one of his favorite things! After Thai he went and got crepes and then he got some Boba tea and then we went to his favorite tea house and got English tea! He was telling us that in the street markets you can find a food booth that will represent every country in the world! Anything you could ever want to eat is right there!

Their house was amazing as well. 8 of them living together in harmony! Everything was so fluid for being what most people might consider hectic. They were incredibly hospitable and asked us to stay the night! We did of course! It was awesome getting to know the people there after just knowing of them for so long. I'd been praying for them and hearing about them since they moved to Camdentown last April. I really loved talking with Suzanne, Pastor Tonye's wife. She's wonderful!

I decided that I am going to bus out there every Wednesday to help out with their outreach and to be a part of their bible study in the local tea house!

I am really looking forward to getting to know that area a lot more! Be praying for Shoreline North London and the ministry they have there. So many people have shown an outcry for community even in such a heavily populated area!

A day in the park

Yesterday we went to a couple of different parks in town. The first one Linda knew of so we stopped off and got Jon along the way. They ate some lunch while we were there and I bought a Fanta, that turned out to be a big disappointment because they don't put HFCS in any of their sodas here in the U.K. as I understand it(Turns out high fructose corn syrup, while being vastly more damaging on the body, still tastes so much better than artificial sweeteners), at the nearby Crepes-O-Mania trailer. 


After that we played "Kick with Nathaniel" as Linda put it which turned out to be us kicking a ball around Nathaniel and not us kicking Nathaniel as though he were the ball as we originally misinterpreted. 

 If you are wondering, Nathaniel did NOT fall off of Linda's shoulders immediately after this photo was taken. In fact, he did the most amazing recovery I have ever seen!

 Jon had to go be studious and diligent and dedicated and all those things that good students should be so Linda(Nathaniel) and I were off. We walked through the rest of the park we were in on the beautiful footpaths. We ended up on some other side of town where a pleasant old woman told us of another park just across the road. That park was my favorite because there were some super beautiful flowers growing in field and there was also an amazingly adventurous play gym area hidden in the middle of a meadow. I swear there was a human sized spider web. A newer, exciting spin-off of the merry-go-round, and a spider web-hammock-swing thing! So awesome. I think Linda and I enjoyed it more than Nathaniel did!  

00:02 in the morning

Here I sit in my bed in the middle of the night awaiting sleep desperately. I can't wait for my body to adjust to the time change.

Since I was wide awake and doing nothing I figured I would jot down how the day went. I woke up especially late today :( and did the usual morning thing. Linda and I then set off into town. We both needed things from the electronic store. She decided to go back home after that and I decided I would finally do a once over of Oxford on my own.

I didn't have much in the way of a plan. Just strolling really. Linda printed off a little map for me when I first got here and that was so helpful. She's adorable. She made it color coordinated with a key and highlighted the relevant landmarks.

I bought a handful of postcards at a little shop but my main goal was to buy a book as I have just finished my other one. I knew of one book store and I tried wandering around in hopes that I could just find it but I had to consult the map. When I found the shop I was really hoping to find a C. S. Lewis book. I thought it would be appropriate considering he taught at Magdalene College which is part of Oxford University. But I didn't want to give myself away as a total tourist so I didn't ask if they carried any of his books. It was a second hand book store and I got the feeling that you don't buy C. S. Lewis books at a second hand book store when you are in Oxford. I got another little quick-read fiction and a tiny 2011 calendar with delicious desserts featured every month.

When I got home everybody was still out so I made myself dinner and had a glass of wine. I was feeling really tired so I figured I would just go straight to bed...... As it turns out the wine just made me drowsy and now having had a 2 hour nap I'm pretty sure I won't be sleeping at all tonight.

But at least I was able to write this post........

English countryside

Yesterday was rad! It was a lazy day and we didn't go into town at all which was nice. Instead we went on a long walk through a bunch of farms in the countryside almost over to Farmoor. There is a huge  reservoir in Farmoor and it would have been super cool to walk around it but being that just walking to Farmoor turned out to be a little more difficult than expected the reservoir will have to wait for another day.


The trails here are called footpaths and are amazing because they all go straight through people's property and through their farms. Whish makes it so much more awesome. The scenery was outstanding! It was so blustery too! The wind was so strong at some points it felt like it would blow me over.


We became friends with a couple of horses along the way!


The path was pretty bizarre because where it came out onto the road there was about two feet of should on the side of the road that it was telling us to walk on with cars going past at about 60mph. 


Today I meant to get up and go to church where the Allens go to church. (The Allens are the family we are staying with.) But the time change is still kind of kicking my butt. After the first day I thought I was okay because I had slept through the night but the last 2 nights I have been laying wide awake all night until about 6am and then sleeping till about 11am. I am just all turned around :(


So, instead of church Linda and I cleaned the kitchen for about 6ish hours. It was Catrina's (the mom)birthday yesterday and we had just found out so we cleaned the kitchen as a present. It was so much fun though. We listened to awesome music, cleaned, organized, and had solid conversations about meaningful things! I loved it! I am so thankful for the Sharps! Then Jon came home and made pasta. His own 'special' pasta sauce and all of us ate including Peter and Catrina!

I love seeing the new (OLD!!!) stuff but I am always so thankful for nights in enjoying good company! It felt like home tonight.


:)

First few days

Thanks to miss Jana I am starting this blog! I figured it would be easier to put my memories down on the computer than on paper. And now all of you can read along!

So, the first day was intense. In all of the ways I didn't think it would be either. I thought the flight and going through customs would be the hardest things but those turned out to be the highlights of the trip. Not that spending an hour in the Paddington police department wasn't rad but I suppose I had other arrival plans in mind. Anyway, that's all over with now.

Linda spent a lot of time over the past couple of weeks soaking up all of the historical knowledge she could  to be a better tour guide when I arrived and she did an amazing job! Oxford is so historic, exciting, beautiful and DIFFERENT! I love it!

The house we live in really nice! There is another young man that lives here. His name is Jonathan. It's talking with him and sharing the differences in culture and just the way we speak. He explained that a funny term they say when someone eats a lot or looks bloated is, "Who ate all the pies?" Which Linda and I thoroughly enjoyed and plan to incorporate into our everyday vernacular.

So, a couple of odd things that have happened so far that I thought I'd are as follows;

My first day, before I had even gone to the police department, when I was in Paddington I went to the ATM at the Barclays to get money out. I had my card out and was litterally reaching toward the card slot when an Indian man jumped in front of me and just made sounds! The only intelligible thing I got was, "I'ts okay. It's okay." Which, it clearly wasn't!!! He proceeded to use MY ATM! I was, "Are you for real right now?!" As mad as I thought I was though the lady behind me put me to shame. She said, or screamed rather, "Did he just cut in front of you?!?! OH HELL NO!!! You F***ing prat!!! We're in a hurry you a**hole!" Needless to say I went from being frustrated to being completely uncomfortable. He still used the ATM. It was fine though. I hurried away from there!

The second exciting time was when Jon, Linda, Nathaniel and I were at the farmers market and the guy selling produce was helping a girl in front of us. She was Asian but I couldn't tell where in Asia she was from. When she walked away she had forgotten her change and the guy said, "Don't you want your money? You Chinese girl have a lot of money, eh?" She was awkward. We were awkward. That guy was oblivious! It was strange.

Last night at the pub when we were watching the rugby match a lady came around selling tickets to a raffle which turned out to be a meat raffle. Yes, you pay a few pounds and you can win some meat at the end of the night. It was bizarre. I guess it's a regular Friday night thing though.

So far the most difficult things to adjust to are English people's attitudes, humor and dish washers. You seriously do not have to rinse them at all. you can put two day old crusty oatmeal dishes straight into the dish washer and it will come out clean! Amazing!

Linda as started the fish 'n' chips challenge which is an oxford-wide contest to see who has the best fish 'n' chips! I am a huge supporter! We've also been working diligently on developing believable accents and lingo! I think we're doing quite well!

That's all for now. Cheerio!