MIA

Sooooo, we moved. I guess it's about time for an update. I'm doing this from my phone, and I've never done that before, so we'll see how this goes.

I distinctly remember moving back to the States from Korea, and being obsessed with pennies for a while. I just wasn't used to them. They were a novelty. I also remember being shocked by how many flavors of Cheerios there were. It's weird, the things you notice.

Coming back to the States again (this time from Germany), we've noticed different things.
Ruth - everyone passes on the right.
Joe - storm drains are HUGE (like the kind from "It").
Cora - public restroom stalls provide very little privacy.
Joseph - doorknobs are round.
Madelyn - everyone has garages.
Alex - everything looks clearer (that's probably because he just got glasses.

Anyway, things are good. We bought a house, practically sight unseen. It wasn't as scary as you might think. We love our house. So cute.

But we DO have improvement plans ;) Here's a before picture.

That's all you're getting of that for now, sorry. Just a little taste. Come back later for the after picture. Later later. Who knows when. And yes, we're living in a pretty empty house right now. Hopefully our stuff will be here at the end of the month. Fingers crossed!

Nebraska is flat, but pretty, and of course, corn fields everywhere. It's nice.

Neighbourhood is nice. Schools are nice. Ward seems nice. But moving is still not nice.  It takes a while for it to actually feel like home. Like you belong. No new friends yet. That takes time....or it may never happen. Every place is different (some places don't have book clubs or sewing groups or someone who needs a walking buddy). People are different every place (some people don't WANT to be in a book club or sewing group or walk). At least we have each other. But we miss everything else we had. Don't worry about me though. I can take up crocheting ;)

Oh, and I got a job. Part time, working as a personal assistant to a friend here. No biggy, but it is my first job in almost 17 years. Contemplating getting my masters degree, but I need to feel settled first, so we shall see.

So, that's a little snapshot of us. Check back later....we have very exciting plans for the long weekend ;)

Back to Oxford

After our camping trip in Wales, we headed back to England to Bert and Adreann's house. Our last full day in England we decided to go back to Oxford for a little more Harry Potter magic and Alice in Wonderland, and there's no better place for that than Christchurch college. This time we actually went inside, yay!

The grand staircase from HP

 The Great Hall from HP.

 This particular stained glass window has Alice Liddell in it (top left window).

 Back down the stairs.

 The cloister, near the cathedral.

 Inside the cathedral. This stained glass window is of the prophet Jonah watching the city of Ninevah.

 This stained glass window has Alice's sister, Edith, in the middle (she died when she was 22 I think).

 This looks like the podium that Dumbledore spoke from in the great hall...but it's not...but maybe it inspired it ;)

 This plaque is in memorial to Henry Liddell (Alice's father) who was a dean of Christchurch, and is buried in this cathedral.

This is the Liddell coat of arms on this gate. The only reason we found this was because we asked a worker in the cathedral about the Liddells, and he showed us the plaque, the stained glass window, and then he pulled out a book from the front desk that had additional information, and in the book it talked about this gate, so we went and found it in the cloister. Very cool!

 More of Christchurch.

Oxford is such a great town to visit. Great history. Great souvenirs ;)

And then our last trip came to an end, and we had to come back home and deal with the reality of moving again :(

And so it goes.

Wales Again, Part 2

Thursday morning was my favorite because we got to go to Snowdonia National Park! We did a popular hike at the Cwm Idwal Cirque (a large amphitheater-like valley formed by glacial erosion) around the lake there (Llyn Idwal). In a 2005 poll, Cwm Idwal was ranked the 7th greatest natural wonder in Great Britain. Basically what that means is that my pictures are NOT going to do this place any justice. None. I'm so sorry, but here they are anyway.

 Getting started. We were at a higher elevation, so it was a bit chilly here, but we knew we'd warm up once we got our blood pumping. The sun played hide and seek behind the clouds the whole time, so sometimes it was pretty windy and cold, and other times it was quite warm and pleasant.

 This part of the hike was my favorite.

 We stopped at this boulder for a snack, and hid behind it because it was so windy at this point.

 There were two older ladies swimming in this lake. I can't even imagine how cold it was.

 And back where we started.

Interesting things about Snowdonia:
- I was surprised to learn that over 26,000 people live within the park, and there is a significant amount of agricultural activity in the area (that means we saw a lot more sheep there).
- The mythology of King Arthur is heavily associated with Snowdonia. Several of the lakes there claim to contain the magical Excalibur.
- Guy Ritchie's recent King Arthur movie was filmed here.
- So many wild flowers.

When we finished our hike, and found some lunch, we headed to another castle - Dolbadarn. It was a beautiful hike up to the castle.

 This was built by Llywelyn ab lorwerth in the 1220's. The round tower that remains was a luxurious addition in 1230. When he died, he had several sons vying for the throne, and then grandsons. The one who became the victor imprisoned his brother here for 22 years...just in case, ya know.

The kids were up for all kinds of photo ops ;)

There was a nice big grassy area, and the kids played around for quite some time.

 There were a couple of teenage boys who decided to climb up the outside walls, and they got themselves stuck in one of those windows. Joe and Bert were gracious enough to help them down. I hope they learned their lesson ;)

Dolbadarn Castle was kind of an accidental visit for us. We were actually aiming for Dolwyddelan, but I'm glad we got to see Dolbadarn, because it was actually a little more impressive than Dolwyddelan, which we saw the next morning. Dolwyddelan was built by the same guy around the same time.

That was the end of our wonderful trip to Wales. I can't recommend Wales enough. Beautiful. Not crowded. You should go there. Really ;)