Wuthering Lights

So we've been to a couple churches around here now and found one we like - St. Paul's of Harrogate. Pastor Brian has been really welcoming and we've been to Bible study a couple times and like the lessons and discussion. The church is a beautiful stone building with stained glass windows, an huge pipe organ, and we've only met one other American person there - it's been fun hearing English, Scottish, and Irish accents!

A couple weeks ago we were really excited because they announced that the next song was a hymn we knew...until the tune started and once again we had to mumble along. We're learning though! That same morning during the offering the little old lady sitting next to me leaned over and confided that she gave her offering by direct debit - she didn't want me to come to any wrong conclusions when she didn't put anything in the basket! I assured her I had no such thoughts and held in my laughter for the remainder of the service.

Last week we visited the chapel on base for Sunday service and enjoyed all of the praise songs...it's amazing how familiar songs can make you feel so at home. In the middle of service the chaplain called up a woman who was moving back to America and, lo and behold, it was the same lady I had been emailing with about purchasing her dryer and vaccum! So after service Aaron and I walked up and introduced ourselves to her and, after laughing about the coincidence, we followed her home to pick up our awesome condensor dryer! She dropped off the vaccum (a dyson - woohoo!) later in the week.

Today we went back to St. Paul's and they had a special nativity service complete with Christmas carols and the children's Christmas play. It was ADORABLE! I think I had a wave of baby hormones because I cried (happy tears) through the first half - kinda embarrassing! Just picture cute little kids dressed up like shepherds and stars and angels and Joseph and Mary saying things in little British accents like "and then they were betrothed...which is rather like getting engaged". Baby enjoyed it too because it moved and kicked and danced through the whole thing!

God has definitely been faithful to us here - we are so very blessed!

We hope you had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving!

We enjoyed our first ex-pat Thanksgiving by celebrating two ways:

1st - We signed our lease on Thanksgiving Day!!! So we said goodbye to the perfectly situated Brookfield Apartments (and the awesome property manager/laundress extraordinaire Ann) and packed up our worldly possessions for our next home.

2nd - We drove down to Winnersh (approximately an hour south west of London) to spend a glorious Thanksgiving weekend with our fabulous friends Salena and Joel!

On Friday we walked around Oxfordshire and along the river where the annual Royal Regatta is held. That evening we saw Harry Potter 7 - so good!

On Saturday it snowed lightly as we spent the morning prepping and chopping and peeling and cooking a super yummy Thanksgiving meal - complete with a perfectly grilled turkey and 5 pies! Salena and Joel had invited some friends (one couple with a baby who are American and another couple who were Canadian and British) and we ate and ate and laughed and ate...it was great.

On Sunday the four of us went on a walk under the cold but sunny skies - notice that the birds are STANDING on the lake because it's FROZEN!

After eating our fill of leftovers Aaron and I packed up and headed back up north,,,and not a moment too soon because it snowed a lot! Apparently this weather is not normal for November and England has been dealing with closed airports, train station, crazy traffic...kinda like LA in the rain. ;-)

We stopped by our new place to drop off some stuff before heading to the hotel for a good night's sleep before our sea shipment arrives...and this is what we found!

Another clear, beautiful, cold weekend - we have been so blessed with sunny Saturdays! This past Saturday we went to Fountain Abbey but ended up spending the whole time wandering through Studley Gardens and deer park. There was a two hour nature tour that we tagged along with and we felt pretty darn British walking around looking at different trees (lime, oak, lyrch...) and learning how to distinguish the three different types of deer that live in the park.

(it's rutting season and the male deer are sporting huge antlers trying to impress the ladies)

We had a great day!

And so we celebrated our first British holiday. Known as Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes Day, this holiday commemorates the defeat of a plot to blow up the Houses of Parliment in 1605. Guy Fawkes was found in the cellar under Parliment with 20 plus barrels of gunpowder, arrested, tortured until he revealed his co-conspirators, and then they were all executed as traitors. Celebrated since 1606, this story of treasonous mayhem is celebrated by a huge bonfire (complete with the burning of a "guy" - a scarecrow/paper mache figure representing Mr. Fawkes) and fireworks.

We celebrated the actual 5th of November by attending a small town celebration in the nearby village of Darley. They had a large pile of sticks, pallets, and a well-stuffed 'guy' but the fire took awhile to light because it had been a wet couple of days. The little flames finally took and a decent bonfire ensued. The fireworks were ignited on a soccerfield in the middle of the park and we enjoyed a variety of roman candles, colorful explosions, and fun whirly ones. The show was abruptly ended, however, when one of the big fireworks was lit but, instead of flying into the air, somehow flew into the ground and exploded right next to the guys in charge of the show! There was a HUGE "bang!" and then silence as we all stared into the darkness trying to see if anyone was hurt. No injuries (thank goodness) but the show was over nonetheless. They got pretty good applause though!

Harrogate was celebrating the following day (a Saturday) with an even bigger bonfire and fireworks display. Aaron and I were invited to his co-worker's home and there was a big group of us hanging out at their place eating bangers and mash, watching american football, and then we all trooped over to the Stray where the festivities were taking place. Fortunately the weather was great - clear skies, no rain, it wasn't even that cold - and everyone kept telling us how spoiled we were at our first bonfire experience!

Now THIS was a bonfire! Apparently people in town donate things to burn so there was a massive mound of wooden furniture, pallets, broken chairs...and of course the guy. They had kept the wood under tarps during the rainy week so it caught on fire quickly and warmed us all up even from a distance.

After the fire died down (which didn't take as long as I expected) they had a fireworks show. I was prepared for another "down home" spectacle like we had seen the previous night but I was not expecting the show we saw. It was really good! (And I have high standards what with seeing fireworks in Disneyland and China!)

After the last firework fizzled from the sky we tromped back to Brian and Jennifer's house for dessert and more football. Aren't these Guy Fawkes sugar cookies Jennifer made adorable?

Warning - this will be a bit of a rant.

Today I am frustrated. Well, not all day - just for the past 20 minutes or so. Here's why...

The week after we got here Aaron and I spent hours (literally forever) opening a bank account in town so we could

a) have easy access to our money

b) have an account to pay our future british bills with

c) get the credit/debit cards with the little chip that are used (and favored) everywhere here

The lady helping us was very nice but it was sllooww going.

We finally got things mostly sorted out but the "system" needed proof of residency so the poor manager had to stop by our apartment the following week to verify that yes, we are indeed staying here long term.

The bank information was mailed in a timely manner (surprisingly efficient) BUT my card was not in the pile of envelopes. Not a big deal, I'll wait...and wait...so today I thought I would do something about it.

I called the local branch like 10 times and not once did someone answer the phone. Yes I had the correct number and no, it is not a bank holiday (I checked). Next I called the 800 number equivalent (these numbers are not included in our pay-as-you go phone plan so we had paid additional money on each of our cells for such a time as this). I waded through the automated system and finally landed a real, live operator. I successfully communicated my name, birthday, answers to security questions, account number (all while thinking "way to go me!") when I was asked for a recent transaction with the account. How am I supposed to know that - I'm the one without a credit card!? So then I tried to log on to my online banking account to find an answer when I couldn't remember my passcode. I clicked on "forget your passcode" and, gosh darn it, I need a dumb credit card number and security code so they can email me a passcode!

The nice man on the other end of the line told me they were open tonight until 11 so maybe I could try again later. I hung up and then cried. And then called my hubby. He was sympathetic to my plight and told me the neccessary details. Armed with the knowledge of a recent transaction I redialed the bank help line and was met with the web of an automated system...again...and just as I had almost made it to a live operator - my phone ran out of money.

This time I didn't cry. I just ate chocolate.

Hello and welcome to my first true foray into the world of blogging! If you know me well you know technology isn't really my thing so it might be slow going in the beginning but I hope to challenge myself while updating all you loved ones on the happenings in our lives...with pictures!

I kept putting off this blog because I couldn't think of a suitable name and sat here for ages staring at the sun peeking out from behind the clouds while contemplating a name that would be fun, meaningful, and a bit cheeky; so Wuthering Lights it is. According to dictionary.com "wuthering" is an adjective originating from British dialect meaning "blowing strongly with a roaring sound" and, as we now live in North Yorkshire with wild, gusty moors and secret tucked away dales, it seemed apropos. Of course this is also an homage to my lifelong love of literature (but no promises that any post I write will ever come close to anything resembling literature!) and thankfulness for the opportunity to live in the cradle of so many literary classics.

My desire for this blog, and for my whole life really, is to be a light; a testimony of grace, truth, and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Once again, no promises that any awesome theological revelations will shake the foundations of your being but hopefully you feel loved, inspired, and encouraged through even the silliest of my musings.

Thanks for reading and, once again, welcome!