Jump!

We had some fun in the sun while we were on Albert Dock in Liverpool... JUMP!

"With a little help from my friends..."
-The Beatles

A little help from my friends
What would you think if I sang out of tune,
Would you stand up and walk out on me.
Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song,
And I'll try not to sing out of key.
I get by with a little help from my friends,
I get high with a little help from my friends,
Going to try with a little help from my friends.
What do I do when my love is away.
(Does it worry you to be alone)
How do I feel by the end of the day
(Are you sad because you're on your own)
No I get by with a little help from my friends,
Do you need anybody,
I need somebody to love.
Could it be anybody
I want somebody to love.
Would you believe in a love at first sight,
Yes I'm certain that it happens all the time.
What do you see when you turn out the light,
I can't tell you, but I know it's mine.
Oh I get by with a little help from my friends,
Do you need anybody,
I just need somebody to love,
Could it be anybody,
I want somebody to love.
I get by with a little help from my friends,
Yes I get by with a little help from my friends,
With a little help from my friends.


What a fabulous weekend with my friends. When I signed up for this Radical Journey, I had no idea that I would develop such meaning relationships with the people here. I absolutely adore my girlies here and I cry when I think about leaving them...God has given me a gift.

 'Ello Lov! 
What an amazing experience this year has been. When I look back on my time here I am completely amazed at the random things that have linked up to form an memorable year. I don't know if I have ever felt more "placed" into the right situation ever in my life. The fact that I ended up in Linda's classroom before I even knew Abby, and that Leigh went into year 5 where June and Helen work was just meant to be. 
Recently a friend from New Zealand asked me, "Are you ready to leave a whole new set of friends?" The answer is...No, I don't want to leave these people. I just want them to come with me and add them to my amazing friends back home! The fact that I have less than 3 weeks left with them is really starting to sink in. I've spent 10 months building relationships with the people here and it will be really hard to not see them all the time. I've spent so much time with good ol' Leigh and we've gotten really close. It would have been a completely different experience this year without her. She is just so funny and clever and always entertaining in some way. 
I love the way that Helen giggles at everything and her "oh my days" comments. She's so kind and thoughtful and always is there to lend a helping hand. "OH MY GOD, THAT'S OOOUUR HELEN!" June is probably the kindest person that I have ever met. She is so respectful and will always try to find the positive in every situation and every person. She is so good with the kids at school and continues to amaze me all the time! She has such an energy about here and promotes happiness to the people she's around. I'm going to miss my Norwegian! Someday I hope that I can make it to Norway..."SHE SAID THAT!!!" 

"A" is for "Amazing" and "Abby"! It's going to be really hard leaving that girl here in England. When I've gotten myself so behind and stressed at school, Abby is always there to help get me caught up and back to saneness. She's been a great person to confide in and share this experience with. I think about the fact that I didn't even know Abby when I signed up to work in 4M...What are the odds, that I would land in the year group with my future British lifer. She is very important to me and will continue to be even as I go home. God has put these amazing people in my life and I want to take every opportunity to spend as much time with them before I leave as possible. I know that I will miss certain things about England, but what I will really miss is everyone that I've met here. We've been talking about how we are going to meet up in the future...

Trip to Robin Hood's Bay...

What an exciting day! We almost didn't make it to the East coast...The weather looked like it wasn't going to cooperate with us. But, the last forecast that we looked up, there was rain everywhere in the country except for the little part of the coast that we were heading! It was meant to happen. We headed east to the coastal village of Robin Hood's Bay, and I was pleasantly surprised on the way. Ask anyone here and they will tell you that I have obsessing over the poppies and the fields full of poppies! Louise has apparently told almost everyone about the fact that I was sad that we couldn't stop of the motorway to take pictures of the poppies. This time, I saw a field and then saw a pull off where we could safely park the car! SCORE! I've never seen anything like this field! Absolutely Amazing!

It was even cooler that the rest of the field was yellow rapeseed. I think Angie thought that we were a little ridiculous for taking so many pictures, but you just don't see things like this in the States. I have officially named poppies as my favorite flower, even if the farmers here consider it a weed! The ornamental poppies are very impressive too. They are massive in size! Experiencing this poppy field helped make up for the fact that I am missing wheat harvest back home. I miss the waving golden wheat fields!

Robin Hood's bay was so cute! You may wonder like I did, "What's with the name?" The actual origin of the name remains a mystery. There is not a scrap of evidence to suggest that Robin Hood of Sherwood Forest folklore visited the Bay. The name is more likely to have grown from the legends with the local origin and probably from more than one legend. I also read though that it is said that Robin Hood kept a few boats in the Bay in case he needed a quick escape to sea. Who knows? 

view from the top of Robin Hood's Bay...

What I did learn though is that Robin Hood's Bay was the busiest smuggling community on the East coast in the 18th century. Not only did the landscape promote the smuggling, but much of the community got involved with secret hiding places, bolt holes, and secret passages. It is said that a bale of silk could pass from the bottom of the village to the top without leaving the houses. 

This village was full of narrow cobbled streets and quaint cottages which we wandered around. That is, until we would hit a dead end and would have to turn around. The gardens were amazing! I found myself saying..."I want to live here..."

 

We went to the white chalk cliffs off the coast near Flamborough.
There was a white lighthouse too! Very picturesque!

After a wander around the Bay and a wonderful fish and chips meal, Angie took us to the Flamborough white chalk cliffs. The fun part about this is that Angie was just an intrigued as we were because she hadn't been there since she was a kid. The chalk cliffs were really neat and they made fun weathered white chalk rocks. The weather cooperated with us and started to rain as we were driving home. It was a lovely day and it makes me appreciate the relationships that I have formed in my time here. Every day that I get to spend with the people here just adds to the memories!

Leigh, Marie, and June

Mela Festival

On Sunday after church, we went to the Bradford Mela festival that was located in Peel Park. Melas originate from the Indian sub-continest (the word 'Mela' means 'to meet' in Sanskrit, the ancient Indian language), where there is traditionally a gathering of people celebrating their community. This Asian fair was much like the fairs that we have in the States to celebrate something. There were 2 stages that had different musical acts and dances being performed, a food area with amazing Asian food, a shopping area, and of course- a fun fair rides area.

The first Bradford Mela (first in the U.K.) started in 1988 and started small, but nowadays the Mela could have over 100,000 people come to it! I don't think the attendance was that great this year, because it just so happened that the day it was being held, it was raining. And it wasn't misty rain, but a steady drip rain. I ended up getting really cold and I worried for my poor camera. I kept it in my coat as much as possible. I decided that it was not a smart idea to wear flip flops, but in my defense, it wasn't raining when we left the house... By the time we got home, I was cold and soaked through! I'm still so glad that we went. It was such a good experience!

This group was called Desi Bravehearts and they did a Bollywood style dance.

I really felt for this man, but I also found him (and the situation) completely hilarious! If there was someone more miserable and colder than me, it would of had to have been him. His face was in a permanent frown. Not good if you are trying to sell balloons in the rain...

Fountain Abbey

Fountain Abbey...

How we had not heard of this place until we went is beyond me! We spent a wonderful rainy day in one of the biggest Abbey ruins in England. This Abbey back in the day was actually like a self sustaining village with everything from a bakery, brewery, guesthouse and all sorts of living quarters. It owned all sorts of land all around the area. At certain times during the year it housed up to 400 monks, which was obvious by it's gigantic size! 
While we were there we joined in on one of the free tours to learn more about it. Nel wasn't the biggest fan of standing in one place for long...I wish that I had freshened up on all of the cathedral architecture knowledge I "learned" (and forgot) in my art history classes. I was struggling a bit...

the side halls in the nauve

We walked to Anne Boleyn's seat, which was a viewpoint of the Abbey from across the river and up on hill. Unfortunately the vegetation had filled in from the summer and the Abbey was not as visible as it would be in the winter. It was fun to hear that Angie had been coming to visit Fountain Abbey since we was a kid on her school trips! 

Quiddler

I have spread the word...What word you may ask? Well, it's the word Quiddler...Actually, it is a game that I have brought to this country! I was first introduced to this spelling card game by some real fine Mormon folks, Eric and Rachel in New Mexico. I really liked it and I finally broke down and bought it online after searching everywhere for it! I used some of my 50 lb. allowance on it and I guess that proved to be a good thing! I brought it to Footloose and Fancy Free and it soon became a hit there. Each week it is a popular game that has many players and because of this 3 have been purchased here. Not to mention, each week someone new says, "Hmm...what a fun game, I should get this for my family..."
I love how they play the game. Score is kept....kinda. BUT, everyone helps each other find the biggest word with the most points. It's a really cute uncompetitive way to play but absolutely amazing! Love it!

Learning about Methodists with da Methodists!

Leigh had expressed interest in seeing some "Methodist" sights while being so close in England, so the minister of Great Horton Methodist Church, Louise, was so kind to take her- and I tagged along! It was very interesting for me to learn the history behind the Methodist denomination. We found ourselves in the small village of Epworth, which is where John and Charles Wesley were born and raised. We went to the rectory, which is where the family grew up because John and Charles father was the vicar of the church there. There we went on a tour and learned all about the entire family. A lot of emphasis about the person that John Wesley became was because of the people who raised him. Apparently his mama was one tough cookie! She was one of 25 kids or something and she ended up having 19 kids of her own (10 survived). 

We realized after our hour and a half long tour that we could have
been wearing these hats for the entire time! Darn!

Our tour guide thought that I was not interested and tired. Truth was I was interested but our guide was a man over the age of 75 and he put his thoughts together slowly. Plus, it took all my energy to try to understand what he was saying. His accent was very hard to understand!

John Wesley would stand here and preach!

Some fun things that I learned about John Wesley:

* he was only 5'2'' tall!

* when he was five he was pulled from his burning house. 

* he lived in America in Georgia for a couple of years, trying to evangelize

* was not the best with relationships...

* he documented events from a poltergeist in the attic of their house.

When John Wesley was told he could not preach anywhere that wasn't his property, he went to his father's grave and preached standing on top of it to a mass of people!

He was baptized here in the church that his father preached at...

"Spring Bank"

So we have started to make a list of the things that we want to do while we are still in England. We decided that we wanted to stay around the community for this break since we have a limited time left. I must say, I've stayed pretty busy doing things with the people that we love from Bradford!

SATURDAY- Went with Abby to get our cartilage pierced.

SUNDAY- Leigh preached an amazing service at Great Horton United Methodist Church 

SUNDAY- Some traveling gypsy boys showed up at our house and offered to cut down our jungle in the backyard. It was really fun to talk to them and hear about their lives. (Shaun, John, and Tom) Ages 13, 10, and 8

MONDAY- Rainy day Monday resulted in lots of movies and chocolate covered fruit!

TUESDAY- We went to Manchester for a day and couldn't help but try on some shoes that made us feel like a spice girl for a moment! I "shopped" for the longest amount of time I have ever shopped...impressive, especially when I didn't buy hardly anything!

TUESDAY- Shopping in Manchester with June, Helen, Abby and Leigh

WEDNESDAY- Leigh and I finally went to the Media Museum that Bradford is famous for! We ended up spending a lot of time watching British TV shows from the past...

WEDNESDAY- We went on Orange Wednesday (1/2 off) to the theater to watch the Hangover 2.  We had a funny moment during the movie when there was a joke about P.F. Changs and in a packed theater Leigh and I were the only ones laughing...none of the Brits understood the joke at all! When Leigh and I realized that we were the ONLY ones laughing it made us laugh even more!

THURSDAY- We had kids club, and because it was a nice day we played some cricket...

THURSDAY- It was so "hot" for England that we had a special treat and took the Kids Club kids to the COOP to get an ice cream. YUM!

FRIDAY- Louise took Leigh and I to Epworth, the birthplace of the John and Charles Wesley the founders of Methodism. I got to learn all about the Methodist faith and some history of England. 

FRIDAY- Stopped and took a picture in a Rape Seed Field and got told off by a random lady...

FRIDAY- That night I went to visit Abby and we went to Abby's sister's house where I got to meet her nephew, Samson. He was so cute!

SATURDAY- Angie and Malcom took us on a walk over the moors. It was a very "bonte experience" with misty rain and wind.  We walked up to the ruins of a farmhouse that has been associated with Emily Bronte's novel, Wuthering Heights.