Hi All,
Another rainy, but good, day in England. This morning I went to church with some friends and then did some various things with Bob and Kathryn in the afternoon. We went to their church at 4pm and then to another friend's house for dinner, where we ate Jordanian food which was brilliant!
I continue to enjoy my time here. It has been a pleasure to see some new friends in more than one venue, so I am feeling more and more acclimated here. I continue to learn a lot from Bob and Kathryn -- they are heavenly people and it is a pleasure to get to follow them around as they so naturally influence others in such a positive way -- just through living genuine lives.
I am looking forward to this next few days, which will be more relaxed than the ten days starting Friday when we will be joined by other Americans and I will jump into a much more rigorous schedule (although this weekend has been quite busy in its own right).
I hope you are all doing well also!
Laura
Monday, June 14, 2010
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Bradford, Day 4
Today was great. After breakfast Bob and Kathryn and I went downtown to visit a team which was praying for healing for people on the streets of Bradford. It was very cool, and great to meet some new friends!
Then we headed to the Mela -- a cross-cultural festival in the heart of the city. We had some wonderful lunch. I think I have a new favorite food in this city, which I will take a picture of and talk about soon. After eating, Bob and Kathryn worked at a booth while I walked around on my own. When they finished their assignment, we walked around with some friends for half an hour.
I spent the evening having dinner with some friends who used to work with my parents. It was another great dinner with wonderful people. After finishing, we went to watch the US-UK World Cup game. Although I wish the US won straight-out, a tie was the next best thing! It was a fun game to watch, and it's always fun to be in the obnoxious minority cheering for the underdog!
Before praying with others, we prayed together.
Then we headed to the Mela -- a cross-cultural festival in the heart of the city. We had some wonderful lunch. I think I have a new favorite food in this city, which I will take a picture of and talk about soon. After eating, Bob and Kathryn worked at a booth while I walked around on my own. When they finished their assignment, we walked around with some friends for half an hour.
A poster for the Mela
Saying Hi.
Kathryn and me walking into a huge mass of people!
I spent the evening having dinner with some friends who used to work with my parents. It was another great dinner with wonderful people. After finishing, we went to watch the US-UK World Cup game. Although I wish the US won straight-out, a tie was the next best thing! It was a fun game to watch, and it's always fun to be in the obnoxious minority cheering for the underdog!
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Bradford, Day 3
Today was another good one. I woke to brilliant sunshine, got a lot of work done, went for a run, helped in the garden, went to an immigrant community and met some people, and then had a lovely (and yummy) dinner at the home I'll be staying in for the second half of my time here in Bradford.
Before working in the garden I had some fun taking pictures of some of the beautiful flowers:
Friday, June 11, 2010
Bradford, Day 2
Today was really nice! After sleeping for over 13 hours, I (reluctantly) got myself out of bed and had a nice breakfast and time of Bible study. I then went out for a run, which was wonderful! Thanks to mapmyrun.com I had a route in mind but I ended up following a random assortment of foot paths onto the grounds of Cottingley Manor (http://www.cottingley.net/manor.shtml) which has beautiful woods and many, many paths throughout! It was cloudy and cool -- great running weather and a wonderful introduction to Northern England.
Bob and Kathryn and I had a lovely lunch and then went into Bradford. It is a really interesting place, which apparently was most prosperous during Victorian times where it was a center of mills. We met with someone, walked around, visited the town hall building (I can't remember what it's called here), and then went to a gorgeous bookstore and then to the Starbucks which shares it.
After getting back to the house we made a quick turnaround and drove to Manchester (about an hour and a half away) to meet with a pastor about an upcoming conference. The meeting was over dinner at a curry place :-). The drive was beautiful -- the sun peaked out for part of it, which was very exciting!
Here are some pictures of views from the house:
Bob and Kathryn and I had a lovely lunch and then went into Bradford. It is a really interesting place, which apparently was most prosperous during Victorian times where it was a center of mills. We met with someone, walked around, visited the town hall building (I can't remember what it's called here), and then went to a gorgeous bookstore and then to the Starbucks which shares it.
After getting back to the house we made a quick turnaround and drove to Manchester (about an hour and a half away) to meet with a pastor about an upcoming conference. The meeting was over dinner at a curry place :-). The drive was beautiful -- the sun peaked out for part of it, which was very exciting!
Here are some pictures of views from the house:
Bob and Kathryn's amazing garden. I'll get out there and take some more pics soon.
The view from the front of the house. It's foggy, but still beautiful!
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
I'm in the UK!
Hi Everyone!
I arrived in the UK today for a three and a half week visit. I will be in Bradford with friends for almost three weeks and then traveling on my own -- hopefully into Scotland.
The trip went well. All flights were on time, etc. However, I ended up sandwiched between some big guys and as a result was unable to sleep at all until my little puddle-hop from Amsterdam to Leeds this early-afternoon. It was fun to meet up with Bob and Kathryn. Needless to say, I am exhausted. Now, at 8:30pm, I am going to bed. I'll keep you all posted on my adventures in the UK!
Laura
I arrived in the UK today for a three and a half week visit. I will be in Bradford with friends for almost three weeks and then traveling on my own -- hopefully into Scotland.
The trip went well. All flights were on time, etc. However, I ended up sandwiched between some big guys and as a result was unable to sleep at all until my little puddle-hop from Amsterdam to Leeds this early-afternoon. It was fun to meet up with Bob and Kathryn. Needless to say, I am exhausted. Now, at 8:30pm, I am going to bed. I'll keep you all posted on my adventures in the UK!
Laura
Final Catch-up: Jesse’s BASIC Graduation
A few weeks ago my mom flew into BWI and then drove with me to Columbia, South Carolina to go to Jesse’s graduation from basic training. I am so glad I went! Jesse knew mom was going, but had no idea that I would be with her or that my dad would also fly into town for the event! When my mom and I got into town, we met up with our friend
The morning after we arrived, I dropped mom off at Ft. Jackson and then as quickly as possible went to the airport to pick my dad up. His flight had been so delayed that he made it in the morning after his intended arrival. We got to the base about a half-hour after the start of the event, and were thankful that the start had been delayed due to some problems in the sound systemJ. Jesse was an honor grad, so we sat in VIP seating right in the middle. Just as my dad and I scooted into our seats, Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue came over the loud speaker. I can’t describe how emotional the environment was. None of the families had seen their loved-one for about 10 weeks, and the music was perfect for that environment. As the song began to climax, green smoke bombs were set off on the far side of the field we were on. And then out of the smoke ran the new soldiers. There wasn’t a dry eye in the place.
The rest of that day was spent with Jesse on the base. We went to lunch, did some shopping, took a tour, played in a gym prepped with games for family day, and in the late afternoon Mom and I went to Starbucks and brought a drink back for Jesse. It was great to see him and the life he’d been living.
Instead of going into the details of the rest of the time there, I want to say thank you to Jesse and to all of our country’s soldiers. I think you all are amazing!
And here are some photos of my little bro:
Friday, May 28, 2010
Florida - Still Catching Up
Hi Friends,
The day after getting home from the Adventure Relay I jumped on a plane to Ft. Lauderdale to visit my sister Allison.
Allison is 13 months younger than me. She went to school at Southeastern University in Lakeland, FL. After graduating she spent a year teaching in South Korea and then lived with my parents for several months prior to moving back to Florida to be a nanny. She started a new job on May 3, so the week prior to that (when I visited) was a perfect opportunity to spend some fun time together!
I can't get over how fun it is to be with my siblings now that we are grown up. I am just so amazed how God has worked in each of us so differently, and how great each of my siblings are in their unique ways! Allison and I had a great time talking through things we've learned, and I was struck by how different our journeys have been, even though we were raised by the same people, have similar genetics, and have shared friends and experienced many of the same things throughout our lives.
Here are some of the things we did!
We visited the Everglades:
The day after getting home from the Adventure Relay I jumped on a plane to Ft. Lauderdale to visit my sister Allison.
Allison is 13 months younger than me. She went to school at Southeastern University in Lakeland, FL. After graduating she spent a year teaching in South Korea and then lived with my parents for several months prior to moving back to Florida to be a nanny. She started a new job on May 3, so the week prior to that (when I visited) was a perfect opportunity to spend some fun time together!
I can't get over how fun it is to be with my siblings now that we are grown up. I am just so amazed how God has worked in each of us so differently, and how great each of my siblings are in their unique ways! Allison and I had a great time talking through things we've learned, and I was struck by how different our journeys have been, even though we were raised by the same people, have similar genetics, and have shared friends and experienced many of the same things throughout our lives.
Here are some of the things we did!
We visited the Everglades:
I got to meet many of Allison's friends. She seems to have some wonderful people to share life with there. Since her birthday was the day after I left, I was able to attend her birthday party:
We thought the reactions people had when they heard we were sisters was funny... as it has been for most of our lives. "Really???," "You guys look NOTHING alike," "I can see it," "Are you sure?," "I can see it in your eyes," "Wow! You guys look alike," were just some of the exclamations we elicited.
On my last night there Allison, her friend Kristen, and I went to a nice area in downtown Ft. Lauderdale, intending to take a night boat-ride. We ended up missing the boat by about 10 seconds, so we walked around a park and took some pictures. It was a lovely night.
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