The Full Parade

If you want to see ALL of the photos (the good, the bad and the ugly), They're on my Flickr Account.

Home Again, Home Again!

Well, Miss Dorothy got one thing right . . . there's no place like home. I've had a ball over the last 5 months. It's been brilliant. But . . . I'm really glad to be home.

There really isn't much to report about the trip home. It was pretty normal. Got on the flight in Chicago on Wednesday, changed planes in Cincinnati, got off in London at 9.00 am Thursday. Although, for a change, I did actually sleep much of the flight. That was a nice surprise. It wasn't great sleep, but it was sleep. So I wasn't totally trashed when I arrived. And, as a true act of friendship, my friends from church, Claire and Joe, came all the way out to Gatwick to collect me! So I didn't even have to lug everything through the Underground/Trains. Yeay! That was very kind, and totally above and beyond the call.

Friday I got up and went into Uni. Had a quick check-in with my advisor. Things are looking good on the PhD front. Had lunch with Jenny, and took a few photos of campus.



Saturday, I finally got around to to unpacking. Surprisingly, I managed to get everything done, including all the stuff I'd packed away so that my house sitters could move in, in under 4 hours! And no, that didn't mean stuffing everything into the laundry hamper. I mostly had clean laundry, anyway. Then, in the evening, my friend (also from Church) Rebekah came down from Cambridge and we played. Saturday we went to Nando's (one of my favourite cheap and cheerful meals!) for dinner, and watched Sahara at my house. Rebekah started playing with my hair and actually put me to sleep twice! Sunday we went to church, which was great. It was so nice to be back home with them. Then, after church Rebekah made me the most amazing Sunday Dinner. And let me get my head down whilst she prepared it! My body's mostly back to normal, but I am still feeling a bit of jetlag. She made amazing roast potatoes, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, and sausages. And then for afters . . . oh my goodness! She's baked these scrumptious chocolate with white chocolate chip biscuits at home and brought them with. She layered them in with cream and cherries and raspberry yogurt for an amazing, light, treat. It was perfect. So we sat out in the garden (rather hideously overgrown) and enjoyed the fruits of her labours. What an amazing welcome home feast!



After dinner we went down to the river. Rebekah's an amazing photographer, (She's just started up a blog of her own, if you want to check out her other work.) and she'd brought her equipment, so she took loads of photos of me. Isn't she sweet? And some of those photos turned out amazing!



I'm now back into normal life. Well, sort of. I'm playing catchup just a bit. The garden had been let go whilst I was away. I suppose of all the things to neglect, that's the least problematic. But when I arrived and looked at it I just though, *sigh* That's going to be a bear to clean up. Fortunately, I have loads of marvelous friends. One of the Youth from church, Elliot, and his dad, David, came round today to help. Elliot cut the grass, David trimmed the edges and raked up all the dead bits out of the grass, and I clipped the hedges back. It's not done, but it's at least usable now. Hooray, and a huge Thank You to David and Elliot!

Blues P.S.

I finished the Red(ish) Vintage dress, and took it with me to the Blues Exchange. Wore it Saturday night, to great acclaim. Seriously, everyone loved it. The ladies loved it because it was pretty, and the guys loved the way it swished and flared when they spun me! Sorry . . . yet again I don't have any photos. I even wore The Blue Dress again, and still didn't manage to get any photos of it! Seriously, I'm so busy when I'm dancing (dancing!) that I never get photos. *sigh* And there was another gorgeous dress I wore Sunday night, that I don't have photos of, either!!!! Anyway, just though I'd let you know that one of my projects is finished.

3 Things I Wish I'd Taken A Photo Of

There's been so many funny things happen on campus this last week. I keep meaning to bring my camera in with me, but keep forgetting. And it's big and bulky (takes a great photo, but not the best for keeping with you all the time.) But there were a few that I really wish I'd been able to photograph:

1. The giant Snowman.

• BYU has this enormous statue of an Indian outside the Library. And someone (well, probably several someones) got inspired by the 11 inches of snow we got in one night (remember the night I wasn't able to get home?) and cover it in the statue in snow, making it look like a snowman. It was so funny!

2. The Snowangel Maker.

• On Wednesday, as I was walking across campus, I noticed someone lying down in the snow in the centre of this little decorative circle area. He was making a snowangel. That he made an angel was funny, but I would have loved to get a photo of him actually doing it!

3. The Ramiampton.

• Those same people who made the giant snowman didn't stop with just that. Oh no. They also created this enormous tower of snow. At first I thought it was another giant snowman. But then I realised there were stairs going up to the top! And I even saw people up there! It was so funny. Loved it.

Clearly some people have too much time on their hands. But I'm glad they provide all sorts of entertainment for the rest of us!

Images From My Memory

A friend chalenged me to create a photo mosaic. This is 'Images From My Memory'.

I Win!

Sort of.

Actually, I figured out that I could still post photos if I used a slideshow built on another site. So that's what I've done. I've now posted photos of The Wall and the AirKix Indoor SkyDiving. Enjoy!