Mission Accomplished!

You see that smile? That's the smile of 200+ hours of research and writing, 14,000 words and over 50 pages written, bound and ready for inspection. That smile is hard work from 3 semesters successfully completed. That smile is relief. That man? My husband!

The title of this little baby is "Analyzing the Evidence of Security Trends: Transnational Organized Crime and Infectious Diseases." I know it's a long title, but I guess it prepares a person better for what is beyond the cover.

The paper isn't officially due until Wednesday, but this over achiever turned it in last Friday! I am so glad to have that paper out of my hair too! The stress even gave me a cold sore--yuck! How I got the cold sore and Ian got nothing is beyond me, but I can take one for the team.

With the mission accomplished the real question is, now what? Well, as far as the paper goes it'll be shuttled around to a couple different markers and taken before a board before we know what the official mark is around late November, early December. *Sigh* It's a long wait. In the mean time, Ian has begun applying for jobs. Unfortunately, he won't really be able to submit his transcript as proof of a finished Master's until he actually hears back about his Dissertation...in December. I'm kind of hoping they take a look at him anyway and leave the proof of Master's completion for later, however unlikely that may be.

So in the mean time we're headed to Florida to enjoy some family time. Grandma and Grandpa and a lot of sunshine are just what we need at a time like this, right? From there the plan gets a little hazy.

I feel like we're leaving a place we love and have begun to think of as home for complete uncertainty. I often wonder what the Lord has planned for us. Is there a plan from here? How can we figure out just what it is we should be doing? Well, as I thought about these questions Ian showed me a video that really seemed to help. Check it out!

If I have faith that there is a plan for our family and I know that God is the master of that plan, what the plan is doesn't really matter, does it? It only matters that I can see far enough into the fog so I know where I need to step next. As for now we know we're leaving Enlgand (pause while I cry about it) and heading for Florida. The fog has settled in pretty thick after that and so my brilliant idea to create a 5-year plan has become my brilliant plan to trust the Lord's eternal plan. 

This is one of those times when the Lord will show me his hand in my life. I will see him working to help guide us because I know at this moment there is nobody else who can really help. As long as we do our part and continue to be willing to take the path we're given, we'll be blessed with experiences to help us grow together as a family and as individuals into the people who he knows we have the potential to be. It'll be a ride. Here we go!

Imaginary Friends

Lots of kids have imaginary friends. It fosters creativity and, hello, imagination. Holly's imaginary friends are generally princesses or unicorns. Atley's imaginary friends are usually based on whatever TV show he's been watching lately. Apart from his actual friends (mentioned here), Atley has been making lots of imaginary friends, too! Unlike his real friends, his imaginary friends have a tendency to drive me crazy. Here are some friends I will not be sad to leave behind.

Tree Fu Tom

Yeah. Tom and I don't get along. Atley isn't even allowed to watch this show around me because it makes me so crazy. What makes it so annoying? Well, as you may have gathered, Tom does magic (called tree fu) to 'save the day'. That's alright, but then they try to get the kids involved and doing the magic too. I understand they want the kids to interact and get up and move, but can we at least have a consistent rhyme scheme? Here's an example of the "magic."

I know I posted this, but I will not be watching it. Like I said, it infuriates me. Also they have a character that is supposed to be a cowgirl type. Her accent is weird.

Everything's Rosie

I like Rosie. Her funky hair is just the right balance of crazy and tidy. Rosie and her friends all go around playing different games and learning how to be kind and treat each other right. All good things, right? Well, there is one character that takes the bad behavior to the extreme--blue bird! She's always so grumpy and yelling at everyone. For all the good parts of Rosie, I will not miss it because of that annoying bird.

Not all of the shows have been bombs of course. Atley has found some real gems among his explorations. Our favorites include:

Octonauts

Animals take on human characteristics as sea explorers. They teach about different unique animals and team work. 

Mike the Knight

Mike is a Knight in training. He learns how to "be a knight and do it right." He makes mistakes but he quickly learns from them and sets everything right. Atley loves pretending to be a knight and Mike even has a little sister who is a Princess so Holly loves it too! They often will ask us to prentend we're the dragons from the show. 

Cloudbabies

The cloudbabies are the caretakers of the sky. They polish the sun, give rainbow his colors, and make sure everything is running as it should. I like that they have chores and responsibilities even if they are babies. It's not a show children will watch forever because it does seem to be geared toward a younger audience, but for now it seems to entertain them. It's given them more interest in the sky and everything that goes on up there, too so I guess it's mildly educational too. 

Thankfully we have recently learned that Mike the Knight and Octonauts have started in the US as well! We will get to take some friends back with us I guess! The others I feel like I can't get away from fast enough.

What are your favorite and least favorite shows your children watch?

Pardon us.

I'm working on a new template. Doing a header with a track pad is such a pain. I can't wait to have my other computer back. Then this blog is really gonna be rockin'.

Hopefully you can fight through and read it even if it doesn't show up like it should. Hopefully we've got something worth reading, too!

As they always say at Disney when doing construction, "Please pardon our dust."

What we'll miss...

We knew this was coming since before we moved here, but I could not have expected how sad I would feel about it.

We're not even sure where we're going, we just know we have to leave. It's the worst. We've finally bought plane tickets back to the USA (something I put off for more than 2 months), and we'll be back in the homeland in late September. *Sigh* It's happy and it's sad. Allow me to explain.

I love being American. I want to go back home and see family and be surrounded with things I'm familiar with. Root beer, Denny's, driving on the right side of the road, sunshine--I've missed it all so much. But, since we've been here we've met lots of people that have made England feel like home and I feel like we're leaving our family behind. Let me introduce you! 

This is Evelyn. She was probably Atley and Holly's first friend after we moved here. Evelyn is very good about keeping Atley in line in primary and makes sure he sticks with the class by holding his hand. It is very adorable. Holly loves playing with her because they can play princesses. It's nice to have an older girl for Holly to look up to.

Charlotte, Ed, and Elijah are the rest of Evelyn's family. Her family was very welcoming and helpful in our first uncertain days and we've grown even closer since. A highlight was earlier this year when they visited Ian's parents in California while on a trip around the Western U.S. We've loved our park days and the odd dinner together. 

Phoebe is the other little girl in Atley's Primary class. She cracks me up. I don't think there is a time I have seen her when she hasn't given me a good reason to laugh. She has said things like "Atley, you're my husband so that means I need to be nice to you" or "My Mommy chooses the right when she buys me sweets!" After her trip to France for vacation she even made sure to check and make sure I missed her--of course we missed you Phoebe!

Next up are Holly and Katie. Both of these girls have been so helpful to my kids and are great playmates. We went to Holly's house for dinner and she was sure to clean up all the little pieces so they wouldn't choke. Then she drew them a picture of them with their favorite toys. Now it's hanging up in their room. She was also nice enough to give me a short lesson on water conservation in the car! How thoughtful, right?

Katie came home from church with us one Sunday and spent the afternoon. The kids LOVED having her here, but I think I loved it even more. I didn't see my kids for like 2 hours straight. It was the perfect break and even more so because I knew they were playing instead of just watching a movie and becoming zombies. I can always get my kids to put their shoes on if I tell them we're going to see Katie!

Tom likes to dazzle us with his knowledge of American culture and we love being dazzled! He's a big fan of Root beer and the NBA. Atley likes to call him Tommy which Tom doesn't seem to mind. I find it very cute that Atley has a special name for him. He is helpful with entertaining the kids and keeping them quiet when they need to be and teaching them to race when they have a bit of time to play. Anna puts on an American accent which I'm told can be quite the show. She has a big personality and is always willing to share her ponies and other toys with Holly. 

Atley has taken to calling them Grandma and Granddad, but they are less formally known as Pat and Liz! They have been kind enough to have us for dinner a couple of times, one of which included Pat's birthday a couple weeks ago. We can always count on him to organize a good basketball game. Liz plays the piano for us in primary and we don't go a week without a good laugh about something or another. While Ian and I always enjoy their bright smiles and wonderful family gatherings, it's especially nice that they don't mind that Atley thinks of them as Grandparents. I think it makes it easier for him to be so far away from his real Grandparents and to be familiar with what Grandmas and Grandpas do.

Emma is my chat buddy. She comes around when the boys play basketball ready to play if they need her and ready to chat with me when they don't! She always has good advice and a funny story to tell. What more can you ask? Well, thankfully she often brings along Richard, too! Ian appreciates Richard coming around so he isn't the only guy with us Moms. Richard doesn't say much, but I'm coming to learn when he does say something it's well worth the wait. Recently, they also introduced us to Indian food. I was afraid to try it, but now I have no idea why!

       

  

Helena and Elias (or Eli) are sure to be seen together. Eli was born shortly after we moved here so we can safely say we've known this little guy all his life! Atley and Holly have become surprisingly warm when it comes to Eli which gives me a little hope that he's getting them ready for another baby. His adorable smile and sweet disposition made me baby hungry from the first time I saw him! Helena is really good at getting Ian out of his comfort zone. She says just the right things and Ian turns bright red! She's super funny and positive, and we're always glad when she is around. Her husband Chris is another addition to our family of friends. He always seems to arrive after I've finished taking pictures though, so you'll just have to imagine what you think he looks like! 

All of these people and many more have helped to make our time here very special. They have served us and loved us, and it's hard to imagine how our lives will continue without them. I'm really hoping that soon they will want to come visit us in the good 'ol USA! Sheffield family reunion 2013 anyone?

July the Fourth

I'm sure you've been very curious to hear about how we celebrated the 4th of July surrounded by the "enemy." Well, thankfully 236 years has really lessened the pain of loss for the British and they were very pleasant to celebrate with!

We started the week at church, as usual. I have the blessing of playing the piano in Sacrament Meeting and I joked about slipping in the Star Spangled Banner for prelude wondering if anyone would notice. Honestly I didn't really have the guts for it and I didn't want people thinking I was crazy or annoying--I was afraid someone might not get the joke. Thankfully we arrived to church before a lot of other people and I got a chance to bang it out. One other English person was there with us and we caught him humming it! We giggled to ourselves but decided he probably didn't realize what he was humming and just took it as a familiar tune. Still, we got one!

 In preparation for the Holiday we like to watch this little baby!

It's actually not little at all and we got started to late this year, we didn't make it through the whole thing! But, we got just the right amount to reinvigorate our patriotism. When I say "we" I mean Ian and I. Atley is a different story. While we were watching a dramatization of the Boston Tea Party, he noticed the Americans climbing aboard the ships to toss the tea overboard. We then had the following conversation:

              Atley: Look Mom, I think they're pirates!

              Me: No Atley! They aren't pirates. They're Americans.

              Atley: No, I think they're pirates!

              Me: What side are you on? Are you American, or are you British?

              Atley: I'm British!

Wow. Well, I guess I can let it slide by assuming that he was looking critically at history. In fact, during the Boston Tea Party the Declaration of Independence hadn't been written (or really even thought about) so they probably would still identify themselves as British citizens. Since they weren't technically Americans yet, they probably were more like pirates. One way or another, it gave us a good laugh!

Ian and I really want our children to develop a love for the USA and all the good things it stands for no matter where we live. With that in mind we had been talking to Atley in particular about Independence Day and tried to explain it in a 3 year-old way. On the morning of the 4th, we sent Atley off to school. It did feel kind of weird making him go to school on a holiday, but he likes it so much we thought it was an okay thing to do. As soon as he walked in and saw his teacher he said "It's Independence Day!" She was so great! She smiled a happily agreed. 

We planned out our menu for our big holiday; home made hamburgers, french fries, and red white and blue strawberries! Everything was delicious! Thankfully for us the British just finished celebrating the Queen's Jubilee so there was plenty of red, white, and blue leftovers for our celebration. We just ignored the fact that the sprinkles for our strawberries said they were British!

Source

Our camera is broken, so I lifted this picture from another site. Ours didn't turn out quite this nice, but if you want the recipe, you can check it out from the source!

Once things were rolling with dinner I went to pick Atley up from school. This is where my most memorable moment comes in. While at school, Atley's teachers had helped him to paint an American flag to bring home. They even attached it it to a stick so he could wave it around. It was a small gesture and they probably didn't even know that it meant anything to me, but it lessened the pain of homesickness. To think that someone would care enough about our background to help us share our culture with our children was such a blessing!

We had always planned to celebrate quietly especially since the legality of fireworks was never settled. I'm not really sure if our neighbors would appreciate the noise anyway. We did think it would be nice to get our Canadian neighbors to join us and combine our celebration with Canada Day, but alas, a quiet celebration prevailed.

Far away from home and missing all the parades and fireworks, we found a glimmer of kindness. Our holiday was fantastic and we loved celebrating how things are with the British instead of how things were. Here's hoping you found something more to celebrate with your holiday, too!