Swimming with the Cows

English weather is beautiful at the moment. Warm, sunny, and the perfect weather for a swim. We recently discovered a lush place in Port Meadows... so i convinced Yasmin to go with me today. She doesn't like animals much... so she was in for a treat.

We brought our new floating devices we picked up in the states. We were the only people with them, and honestly looked a little ridiculous but it was great fun.

We got some very good sun and I am happy to report that my tan is looking fabulous. Tomorrow? Work. But we will be hitting up the roof on our lunch break, so I will keep you posted on how my golden brown tan is developing.

I Graduated (and even had a robe)!!

Hooray! I've graduated! Finally... it took a while, the process started five years ago in California, and has finally finished in Oxford. Woohoo. The day was slightly stressful. We got there at 7am - because I hadn't booked a robe or an extra ticket. So, we wanted to be there bright and early to make sure we could get them. It all turned out great in the end, and I'm happy to report I made it across the stage and back to my seat without falling over, so all is right in the world.

With my color-coordinated parents. Was lovely that they got to make it.

Having our iconic moment afterwards.

Having lunch afterwards with friends in town.

With my 'glamorous' mom in town afterwards.

We celebrated in the states before we headed back to England, that way Mike and Stephanie could have been there (you guys should have come out, they even had a room with games for people with kids under 7 - Grace would have loved it). We went to a great fondue place and all ate way too much...

It was so good though. My favourite was the chocolate at the end!

The night was so much fun - and even ended with a big surprise! I got the most lovely graduation present that I ever could have asked for: a new MacBook Pro. Oh, it is so beautiful and I love it. Lots of friends and family pitched in to help buy it. I am so thankful to everyone that did. I think it's great - and I'm going to be using it all the time in the fall when I start commuting to London to do my masters at London School of Economics. I can hardly wait!

The only place on the map... Burnsville.

So, we drove 11 hours in the car to Burnsville, North Carolina. 6 adults, two kids, and two dogs... all in one car. It sounds pretty tortuous, but it was actually so much fun. Lisa's house that we stayed in was beautiful and it was great to be right next to the creek. We did some sightseeing, went swimming, got to meet up with old friends, and even got to go on a ride on Thomas the Train. What more could you ask for?

Grace in the car with Juma.

Trying to keep Obie entertained.

The house we stayed in.

Playing in the creek.

Grace and Obie rocking on the front porch.

Mom and Aunt Ninee.

With Shane overlooking the waterfalls.

Walking in the woods.

Matt came to visit from South Carolina.

Grace was a little dare devil. She loved tubeing!

Echo: the dog who thought he lived in the house.

We stopped at Cracker Barrel on the way home.

Obie got hold of the butter.

St Charles

We just got back from Mike & Steph's house in St Charles this past week. We had such a fun time. It was great to see everybody. Grace and Obie had changed so much since we were last there. Here are just a few photos from our trip...

Obie liked playing dress up with my mom's glasses. He would put them on and get so excited and start waving to everybody.

My dad eating his favourite Culver's burger.

Fred and his Culver's burger.

Michael and his little mini-me.

Nana and Obie at the winery.

Stephanie and Dad.

Gracie and her Papa.

Everybody exhausted and asleep in the car.

Grace always has time to try on all the jewellry at the mall.

Haircut!

This is my new haircut!! Before and after photos... more like after and before. haha.

procrastination?

This is really how I feel today.

I've got two weeks until my dissertation is due. I have a lot of work left to do on it. Plus, I've got two other essays that are due in beforehand. There really is much too much to do... but instead of doing it I have a little play online. It's not very productive, but I guess we all need a little break now and again.

Love & Justice

The Love & Justice debate happened last night!

As I'm sure you've all heard, we started the debating society at brookes back in September. We had our first 'grand' debate last night at the students union venue - with guest speakers, catering and over 100 people. It was a great success and everyone involved was really pleased with the outcome. The motion was:

This house believes the 'west' has a moral obligation to intervene in the affairs of the 'rest'.

It was upheld with 42 people voting for it and 37 against (there were also people who chose not to vote).

The audience was adequately riddled with a good number of crazies... which always helps keep it interesting. The token Arab who accuses 'you' of ruining the lives of every Muslim, and the old nutter who insists on protesting for the rights of Palestine vehemently... without relating it to the subject at hand. Oh, and I fulfilled the all important role of time-keeper. Pretty exciting.

p.s. the photo i added of me is not that great, the guy is one of my many fans.... no just kidding, he is just a guy from the society.




Gabe and Fred who came to support, and inform people of their scientific fallacies.


Drinks and nibbles beforehand.


Waiting to get started with our awesome logo in the background.

Early Mornings

A couple weeks ago, Fred was having some pretty early mornings. He spent three weeks traveling to London five days a week to go to a stats course. Then, on the weekends he would have to get up early again to go rowing. He was pretty hardcore, and I was really impressed. So, we went down to watch him row a couple Saturdays ago. It was pretty impressive, they were very fast and managed to 'bump' the boat ahead of them and move up a division!