Jousting at Blenheim

Today I got to go to a Jousting Tournament at Blenheim Palace!  It maybe was geared more for little kids...but I had fun too! :)  They did a few different things.  They warmed up spearing wooded dummies, then jousted with each other.  They also had some sword fighting and then had to put their lance through tiny rings.  Here are the pics!  It's definitely quite difficult to take a really good picture while the jousting was going on, but I think I got an okay few.

Some Smallish Oxford Adventures

I don't think I've written anything since I've been back in Oxford.  It's nice being back in Europe.  The weather is even mostly nice, so that's been exceedingly lovely!  I've mostly been focusing on writing my dissertation, so I haven't done any traveling or had any really big adventures or anything.  My writing has been going well though, and I am all on target to turn in my dissertation on May 6th!  My dissertation isn't actually due until the very end of May, 2 days before I start my last placement, and I didn't think 2 days was a long enough break, so I previously decided to turn in my dissertation as early as possible to give me some time to play in May.  May 6th seemed like a lucky day, so that's what I chose for my personal deadline.  Then I'll celebrate all I want after, and start having adventures again, and perhaps do a little traveling.  Switzerland seems to be calling to me.....

Luckily, as my writing is going well so far, I have had the chance to do a couple of little fun things around the city.  A couple weeks ago the Russian Ballet was on tour and stopped by Oxford and did a performance of Swan Lake, which I adored!  They were so good!!

Last week the parents of an old roommate were passing through Oxford, and I took them to tour Christ Church College, which I had actually not been in yet.  Unfortunately the Great Hall was closed for renovations, so we didn't get to see that.

St. Mary's Church, not part of Christ Church College

We've recently got some sister missionaries in our ward, and I've been able to have the chance to go out with them about once a week to help teach or find people to teach, and that has been really good too.  It helps me keep things in perspective and not get too bogged down by all the writing I am doing!  I have LOVED being back at teaching seminary too.  I missed those kids so much!

On a not so productive note, I discovered a new (to me) TV show, Once Upon A Time, which I have become enthralled with.  It's all about fairy tales and princesses and princes and true love and it's all so very distracting when one is trying to write a dissertation....I've definitely had to make rules that I can't watch an episode until I have done all of my work for the day!!

The Slow Regard of Silent Things

This book is without a doubt the most phenomenal book I have ever read.  It was so different and so fresh and so real.  It's sort of a hard book to recommend, seeing as how it is like a companion novella to a series, and if you haven't read any of the series (the Name of the Wind series, by Patrick Rothfuss, also among my most favorite books ever read), this book could be really confusing.  But I love this book, even in it's confusion.  It is poetic and beautiful and true.  The author claims it is a story about written by a broken person, about a broken person, for broken people.  Maybe that is why I love it so much, because I am broken and this story speaks to my very soul.  But after reading this book, I begin to wonder, why would anyone want to live a different sort of life?  Perhaps it is broken, but it is beautiful.

This book gives us a glimpse of a week in the life of one character, Auri.  Auri is a young woman who for all intents and purposes is homeless and living in abandoned underground buildings in a bustling University city.  In general, she interacts with no one, and is awake and active at night when the rest of the world is asleep.  She is described as broken, and indeed, broken she is.  But oh how she is marvelous.  Her whole world, her whole life, is focused on making sure everything is in it's proper place, that everything is content and happy.  She can sense feelings of inanimate objects and will move around her large underground home and move things around each day to make sure everything is content and in it's proper place.  Her entire focus is outward, she never takes anything selfishly.  For example, at one point she discovers a new room in her underground world which contains a wardrobe with a few sets of new and very expensive sheets that have long been abandoned.  Though her bed doesn't have any sheets, she senses that the sheets would not belong on her bed, that it was not their proper place and it would not make them happy, so she leaves them there and goes without.  Auri lives such a simple life, and for so much of it she is filled with such happiness and joy.  She is happy because everything around her is taken care of and content.

This way of living, the way Auri does, is so appealing to me.  Why don't we all live in a manner similar to this, but instead of focusing on objects, we focus on people?  Why can't we slowly regard the silent things of people, and sense better what they need most for us in that moment?  Why can't we make our focus on helping others instead of focusing on our selfish desires?  Why can't we focus on the simple things, the simple joys of life and living?

My Winter at "Home"

This Christmas/Winter break I've had the opportunity to spend 9 weeks in the USA with family!  I wouldn't necessarily call it home though, because while I've been in England my family all moved to Saint George, Utah, a place that I have only visited briefly before.  Also, I've struggled to adjust in a lot of ways to the USA again.  As in, I would not mind living in Europe for the rest of my life (though I will always hold a very particular fondness for Oregon in my life.  If I have to live in the USA, I must live in Oregon!).  On the flight back to the USA, I was startled when people in the LA airport bathroom starting talking to me at the sinks, making friendly comments.  They were all cheerful and out-going, and I was staring at them like "Don't you know you're not supposed to talk to strangers???"  And the massive amounts of fast food places make me want to throw up just looking at them.  Also, can we talk about how EVERYONE in this city has a lot more than just one gun and are always talking about the next one they are going to buy and how much they love shooting and it is all really starting to freak me out beyond all reason.  Another hard adjustment to Saint George in particular is the dry weather.  My skin feels like a desert.  At first I thought all of the red rock was really pretty.  Now I just miss all of the green.  Mind, there is still a lot of pretty nature out here, and most definitely worth a visit, however I could not settle here for the rest of my life and not go insane.  I did however really appreciate the Natural Foods Grocery Store.  It was so big and had so many delightfully healthy options.  That is the sort of thing that is near impossible to find in England, and oh how I missed it.  It has also been so absolutely lovely having a temple so close!  I have been able to go so often and I have enjoyed it so much!!  For my last 6 weeks here, I've been doing an internship for my physical therapy degree.  I've been working with children with special needs, and I have really enjoyed it!!  This is definitely an area that I could see myself working in when I graduate.  I've definitely been learning a lot during this internship, and I'm really glad that I've been able to be here for it!

I've had a number of fun things happen to me over this break, and I probably should have been better at keeping up with my blog.  Firstly, in the week before Christmas, my friend Aya came to visit me from Japan!  We had so much fun making lots of delicious Japanese food and showing Aya different things in America.  I think she was most astonished by the cereal isle in the grocery store!  While she was here, we were able to do a bit of hiking in Zions and go up to Salt Lake City to see the lights at Temple Square.

Christmas was lovely, and I got some good movies, Harry Potter gear and Doctor Who things, so who could ask for more?

One of the best things of this break was my birthday party!  I had some friends travel down from the Provo area to help celebrate Harry Potter style!  We all went to the temple, then afterwards had a Harry Potter themed party, including making your own wand, a Hogwarts Feast, and lots of games to earn House Points!  Most of those pics are already on Facebook.  I think getting ready for the party and doing all of the decorating was almost as fun as the party itself!!

It has been so nice being with family for this time.  It's probably been around 12 years since we have all been together for anything longer than a week.  I love my family and I love being able to spend time with them!  My brother and I even busted out his old Star Wars Card Game and had a couple rounds of that.  To his great chagrin I still kicked his butt, our overall record since we were kids is now at about 123 wins for me, 4 wins for him.  What can I say, the Light Side always wins!