neon and tights - its the 80's!

last night, we were all treated to an evening of glow-in-the-dark bowling by peter for his birthday! but, to make it even more fun - bee thought we should all dress up in 80's attire! how fun! it was absolutely hilarious - i just wanted to share this pics with everyone! love it!

bee and leash looked absolutely amazing! straight from the 80's - no kidding!

pro-bowlers for sure!

redeemer vs abu - we kicked their butts!

gabby's hair is amazing! seriously, how did she get her poof to stand that high? ridiculous!

what will we think of next? hope you like the pics!

a week of crazy adventures!

thinking about the past week...i am left baffled as to where i should even begin this blog. it has been such a crazy, fun, adventerous week that i almost cant believe it actually happened! so i suppose the most logical reasoning would be to begin in chronological order....here it goes!

tuesday, after classes and shopping :) tim, beth, megan, and i were invited to harry and caroline dodd's house for supper. we had such an amazing time! they were absolutely wonderful hosts and had the best dogs!! seriously, we had a wonderful supper (lamb, which i really do like!) followed by wine and great conversation. we discussed interesting topics and we learned even more about the english culture. the evening, pierced with laughter and jokes, flew by before we knew it. even though im sure we all wanted to stay longer, we realized it was a little late. instead, megan and i went to beth's house for coffee and reading. however...after a distraction from the cat, not much reading got done. you see, once megan gets talking, its impossible to end a conversation! she honestly is such a cool person to talk to and we had some great conversation about our pasts and futures and everything in between. good memories!

wednesday night...after another day of classes, we stayed in oxford to see "measure for measure" that night. as we walked along, pretty pumped to see another play, we were suddenly drowned in a torential downpour! as we only had one umbrella among 9 people, we were completely drenched. that is not all, the rain soon began falling mixed with hail which pelted our exposed faces. im not kidding. this is just the kind of weather you can expect in england...you just never know what will happen. needless to say, when we arrived at the play, we were incredibly wet and uncomfortable. yet, the play was beyond excellent and we all enjoyed it immensely. it brought shakespeare into a modern time period and dealt with issues of prostitution and sex before marriage. very interesting and really well done! i'd say it was my favourite play of the year.

here we have made it to the play...but are clearly not impressed...

thursday was ree's 22nd birthday. we all planned to throw her a little surprise party at my house. this required a lot of lieing, talking behind her back, and unfortunately making ree feeling slightly bad that mostly everyone was too bust to get together...but it was worth it! she came it totally surprised and so excited!

ree is reading her homemade card here...the card was a crayon picture of everyone from the group and we all wrote special messages beside our person. too cute and she loved it!

laura made this ridiculous chocolate triffle with virtually every amazing chocolate treat in it. wow. absolutely delicious.

aw ree, we love you! you are the best!

friday afternoon, we were taken to broughton castle. although its not the biggest castle we've been too...it was definately the most fun! it is here where the movie 'shakespeare in love' was filmed (which of course we had to watch last night after we visited it) - that was pretty cool. the inside was really gorgeous and was filled with things from virtually every century! awesome!

sick garden!

this was our tour guide. her husband and her own this castle and still live in it! she gave us a sneak peak into her living quarters through a very secret door. that was cool. she was such a wonderful and interesting lady and we had a blast walking through it. it really was beautiful!

after our official tour, we were sent outside to walk around the grounds. which turned into more of 'play time' rather than touring! we had such a blast hanging out and acting stupid...there was such wide open green spaces and we couldnt resist playing a few games.

this is the group (unfortunately mark couldnt be here cuz of homework and alisha was sick) and mad who is looking absolutely adorable in this pose!

we feel that jumping always makes for an excellent photo opportunity!

the redeemer girls!! lovin it!

an incredible tower of people - gabby is quite strong!

here we are playing toss up or something - essentially someone would jump into everyone's arms and toss them up into the air. straightforward but fun!

leap frog!! a classic!

just chillin at broughton castle by the moat lovin life!

after the castle we walked over the margaret conway's house, her husband was the vicar of the nearby church and she served up the most amazing desserts ever! i definately ate too much but it was so good! and they were actually from canada - it was weird to hear other people talking like us! fun!

and so, that is the week so far...but there is more tonight! and i am so excited i can barely contain it! lets just say it will involve glow-in-the-dark and the 80's...hehehe i cant wait!

a stable, a talent show, easter dinner, and snow!

this past weekend was jam-packed with adventure and good times! friday morning, we were picked up by marion and andrew by a minibus, shoved it full of our backpacks, and began our three hour journey to stourhead. this estate is a 18th-century landscape garden and palladian mansion (modelled after one in venice). while there, we stayed the entire weekend in the grounds stableyard - which thankfully has been converted into a guest house. the girls all bunked in a huge room and it also provided us with a kitchen and common room. it felt like we were at camp! so much fun!

after unpacking when we arrived friday afternoon, we all went out to explore the grounds. this place is utterly gorgeous!! "Stourhead is one of the finest landscape gardens in the world. Designed by Henry Hoare II as a place to entertain, the garden was laid out between 1741 and 1780. The magnificent lake is central to this iconic garden of classical temples and follies. Its lakeside paths and backdrop of colourful, rare and exotic trees reveal many beautifully contrived vistas, capturing the imagination of visitors for over two centuries" - definately took this info off the internet...but yep this is what the grounds were. i dont even know how to describe how beautiful the walk we took was.

gorgeous!

our very first stop on our tour, was to the temple of apollo. although we had some difficulties locating it (somehow our map failed us and we were forced to climp an old stone bridge where laura ended up getting hurt by stinging nettles). our exasperations vanished as soon as we all approaced it - this is the place where they filmed the 'almost' kiss of lizzie and mr.darcy from pride and prejudice!!!!! after a few enactments and photos, we continued on our tour to discover many more awesome sights!

this is the river god's cave seen from the grotto. the grotto is a large manmade cave that is absolutely stunning inside. you'll notice in the picture that the statue's hand is outstretched - apparently this is to directs visitors out of the grotto and on towards the pantheon.

posing to capture another of our cool discoveries. for some unknown reason, perhaps inspired by the sheep we had seen, mark posed as a old shepherd!

like kids, we had a blast climbing all the trees!! thankfully, there was only one casualty (tim - but he's okay!). im a little baffled at this pciture...whose hand is in the back behind alisha and laura? all our arms are accounted for...creepy!

on saturday morning, we piled back into the bus and drove out to stonehenge!

here is stonehenge...were our audio guide informed as that they do not actually know a)how the stones got there b)when the stones got there and c)why the stones were put there. hm, oh well, the myths are fun and the stones do look incredibly amazing

that night, after dinner, we ate the easter cookie that my mom had bought for everyone! they were so happy and wanted me to say "thank so much mrs. heuving, you are the best!" yep, she is the best for sure!

getting into the mindset of camp, we held an inpromtu talent night that evening. beth, jodi, and i began with a rendition of avril's "hot" by painting eyes on our chins and mouthing the words with our heads upsidedown...cmon, you know what im talking about! then we had a cheer from beth, jodi, and megan, a hilarious cooking show, improv 'freeze', a round of big booty, and zipzapzop. who knew it could be that fun!!!

sunday we woke up anticipating attendance at a church in the nearby town. when we poked our heads out the door we were greeted with SNOW!!this is our first (and probably only) snowfall here in england! it stayed for a little while before melting - but it was so pretty! although, i can say that i do not wish i was back at home waist deep in snow...but a little is nice!!

that afternoon/evening, laura and gabby (helped by megan and heather) prepared the most amazing easter dinner ever! we had ham, potatoes, salad, veggies, and a delicious apple pie (laura, you will have to make me one of those soon okay?). it was honestly delicious.

today (monday) was awesome! marion had bought chocolate eggs for us which some of us went out in the morning to hide in the courtyard. then, we had a massive easter egg hunt (with megan as victor)! it was hilarious to watch everyone frantically running around and knocking into each other in an attempt to find the eggs! we really are just a bunch of little kids!!!

then, marion and andrew prepared us an amazing brunch to fill us up before we hit the road. on our way back to charlbury, we stopped at bath to see the roman baths...which we actually didnt see because it was too expensive. oh well. bath is awesome anyways!

while in bath, a few of us checked out the jane austen museum (there are some people who are very obsessed with pride and prejudice!). in this pic the girls are posing with an austen replica...but i think laura might be getting a little too friendly with the display. yikes!

this is the royal crescent...its a crescent of buildings which form an entire circle. neat to see - it definately looks cool!

overall, we had such an amazing weekend! im beginning to learn more and more what an incredible group this is! its so awesome that we have all become so close within such a short period of time. they are all such wonderful people and such a blast!

Fun on St. Patrick's Day!

yes, i realize that st.patrick's day was a week ago...but amongst the business of my mom coming to visit, classes, and preparing for this past weekends adventures, i have not found the time to post pictures until tonight. however, we had such an awesome time together that i thought you still might enjoy seeing a few pics.

everyone arrived at our house decked out in green attire - jodi made sure that no one entered if they were not wearing green! jodi and laura spent days preparing a list of food for the night and the spread included fruit, veggies, candies, and virtually anything green along with a delicious cake! yum! and or course their decorations were beautiful.

the night was filled with stories, limricks, poems, irish music, and even a dance. yes, i showed everyone how to do an irish jig. no, it was not good. but fun! we also played a few intense rounds of murder and cranium (at which point we discovered that mark has the wrong idea of what a flower girl is...). whenever we play games together it gets a little heated as many of us are quite competitve! and of course my mom stopped by to meet everyone! all in all, a very good st.patricks day!

mom...in ENGLAND?

yes...as hard as it may be to believe...my mom came to england to see me! isn't that incredible? for those of you who do not know her that well, you must first understand that mom has not left canada and does not enjoy flying one bit. yet, she put that all aside and suffered seven hours of intense sickness to fly across the ocean to see a glimps of my life here in england. both my parents (i know dad would have been here too if he could have and we missed him a lot over here!) are completely amazing people and i love them more than ever! what an experience, not only for mom, but also for me - i was able to share this incredible experience with someone who means the world to me. how exciting! if you are confused about how all of this could happen, i will take some time to explain just how she was able to surprise me. you see, i have one cousin living in london (colleen) and another living in holland (sheryl). this past weekend was sheryl's birthday - so colleen asked me to come down to london where they were going to have a surprise party for her. little did i know, colleen was also in on this little scheme. so when i arrived at the london train station, i was greeted by not only my aunt (who surprised sheryl) but shockingly enough my mom as well. when i first saw her...i completely froze. i mean my heart stopped and my feet would not move - i didnt move an inch until she came to me to give me a hug at which point i began to sob uncontrollably into her shoulder. this whole time my mind is attempting to comprehend exactly what is happening and if by some chance i took a train back to canada somehow or if it really was my mom in england. incredible.
but not only was i breathlessly excited...my mom was too! she was so happy to actually be here with me. it was amazing to have someone from that 'world' back at home to be in this 'world' with me here. mom and i had a blast for the past few days! i really think she loved the english life and culture. and i made sure that i packed our days together with plenty to see and do. although she wasnt here for too long, mom had the chance to see three completely different and unique cities - london, oxford, and charlbury. because we did do so much, this may be a long blog...but its not everyday mom comes to england so i want to include as much information and pictures as i can! so here goes...

the first few days of her journey were spent in the heart of london and also on the outskirts where colleen lived. below is a picture of the church we went to close to colleen's home. although there was a service going on, that did not stop aunt cora and mom from going in after it was finished to snap a few pics (i tell you...those two together...you never know what will happen). this was also a perfect day for mom to experience true england weather - cold and rainy. yeah!

while in london, we also got to see st.paul's cathedral, which as i noted in a previous blog, is utterly breathtaking. so, this is us sitting on the steps of the cathedral enjoying the business of london and the beauty of its history.
here we are in front of tower bridge...although we did check out london bridge we concurred that tower bridge is a much better photo opportunity!
colleen took us to covent garden market which was very busy and also incredibly interesting. despite the disgusting smell of blue cheese, we purchased some amazing bread and goodies. fun!

while in london, we also checked out millenium bridge, the globe theatre, trafalger square (which was filled with people celebrating st. patrick's day) and of course buckingham palace! i think mom was a little disappointed that the queen didn't come out to see her.

we took the train sunday night to charlbury - boy was my mom glad to see fields and trees again! she definately loves the country! although i dont think she liked climbing the hills with her luggage that much. our touring of charbury began the next day with a double decker bus ride through the tiny country roads. i love double decker buses and i think mom really did too! its like a cheap roller coaster ride. that in itself was quite the experience for her!

we took the bus out to blenheim palace and walked the grounds (it cost thirty pounds to go into the castle so we jointly decided not to do that!). so we walked all over the grounds...almost getting lost and ending up in a neighbouring town...saw some deer and pheasants...and overall had a lovely brisk morning stroll.

this tree was super cool and mom loved it...it looks like it had at one point been struck by lightening - the whole inside was singed and it left a huge hole which of course mom had to climb into! :) the rest of the day was spent walking all around charlbury and the country side. for supper, we went to the bell (only because the bull was closed...) and shared a meal of rocket and parmasen salad, toasted goats cheese, and chips (which in canada are fries). mmm...so good!

on tuesday, we went into oxford to check out the sites. mom spent the morning shopping (she was in love with primark!) and then we got together for lunch at regent's park college. so she was able to see the place where i have classes during the week. and we met some ducks. i then attempted to become a tour guide for the afternoon and show mom all i could in only a few hours. we got to see the outside of oxford castle...but didnt make it in time to tour the inside. we also got to check out magdelene college...but didnt make it in time to see deer park and addison's walk. oops. maybe i need to work on the tour guide thing a little more! BUT we did check out the bodleian library which mom was pretty excited to see, simply because that is where i work on my essays.we also went into the natural history museum which was super fun as i had never actually been inside either. we saw lots of stuffed animals, which we could pet...a little creepy. and dinosaurs, whales, rocks, bugs, and birds. lots and lots of cool things! it was definately fun!

we also went up carfax tower, which was originally build in 1032 as part of a church. so we walked all the way to the top (an incredibly long and tiring way up) and the view of oxford was amazing! ive never gotten the chance to see it from that high up and it was neat to be able to point out different buildings. this is the view:

the night drew to a close with a stop at christ church. and to our surpise, we discovered evensong was singing right at that moment. so we were able to go inside the church. listening to the choir of young boys was chilling and amazing. my mom and i both loved it immensely.

to end the long day, we headed over the the eagle and child (the pub where lewis and tolkien met to discuss literature) for a hot meal and a cold beer.
wednesday was going home day. so, we woke up early to a beatiful sun and took a walk along the famous charlbury country walks. i must say, it was a little too early for me - but i figured i could do this for mom! although...she really tired me out and i need to go to bed early tonight...but it really was beautiful.

and so concluded our adventures in england together...it was sad to see her leave so soon! but i know that everyone missed her back at home and are incredibly glad to see her again! i had such an amazing time with her! it was so great to see her and know that my family is supporting me so much through everything and would do everything in there power to let me know that and to show me how much they really do care! before you know it...i will be home again and will be able to see you all! THANKS MOM AND DAD!!