January Update

As my post below says, we are keeping it real during January, and not doing much besides work, gym, chillin' and popping into the Dew Drop Inn for our Sunday pint (which is just about upon us again. . . )!

I'm settling into my new position at the business school, pretty easily actually. And very much taking advantage of an extra benefit while working there- 30 minute coffee break in the Common Room with free lattes! I'm not one to take a full lunch break (I still go American style with eating at my desk) but by god I'm going to be downstairs for the free lattes every morning! Oh yeah, and I'm enjoying the actual work too. . . :)

Brian has spent this past week home with a bad cold - but prior to, he's been figuring out tons of paperwork to extend our UK Visas and get visas for Singapore. We might possibly both have to go to Singapore in March to get him all squared away. He'll be working for the University there, but stationed in Oxford. I am very excited about the prospect of spending my bday on the equator in a bathing suit!!

We did watch the inauguration at Brian's office, along with many of his international colleagues. I walked over around 4:30 (left work early) to his lab, and saw that they had set up a laptop to project the BBC video onto a large screen for all to watch. It was all set up like a movie screening with snacks and seats! There were 4 Americans out of about 20 in the room - so pretty cool to experience such an amazing historical American event, with an international audience. There were colleagues from: Ireland, UK, Germany, Canada, Israel, Scotland, China and the Netherlands. They were all really into watching/hearing all about it. Pretty cool!

We're heading to Scotland next weekend, for a short trip. We'll go just north of Edinburgh, to St Andrews, the birthplace of golf. Brian is meeting with some collaborators there, so I'm tagging along, since most of the trip will be paid for. And it's just a good excuse to get out of town for a weekend. So stay tuned for photos . . . .

Not much else to report from the Oxford front here - other than to say you might want to think about coming to visit. The pound is the lowest to the dollar it's been in years (boo for us) - so it might be the cheapest ever time for you to visit the UK. And while watching the BBC at the gym this afternoon, they announced that Oxford is the most unaffordable city in the UK - yippee more for us! Makes sense, since it's London property prices, but not London salaries. . . I do look forward to living back in the US - even a small cozy house will feel like a castle after living in these old school, tiny broom closets for outrageous prices! (Well I'm not being quite fair, as we've made out fine enough with a fairly spacious flat for you to come visit. . . )

Off to the pub!

Holiday Recap

We have been enjoying a much needed "normal" month of January. This consists of going to work, going to the gym and spending the weekends being lazy at our flat. You would think that would mean I would take the time to update the blog, but I've been enjoying leaving it alone for awhile!

I'm not going to type up the entire schedule from our trip, but it was our typical Midwest tour, living out of a suitcase. And it was darn cold this time too! We def don't miss that at all!! But of course, we had a wonderful time being with family and friends, and I know I would have had a hard time if we had stayed in Oxford. So I am so thankful we were able to be home!

Hanging with Cousin Patty and the Doyle fam - meeting Olivia for the first time
Bro Rick and Sis-in-law Rick and Kate, and their baby Abigail's baptism in 'Kato
Entire Moen clan
Colvin clan
Guys on Xmas morning
Kelly discovering Guitar Hero for the first time - awesome!
Bri feeding Abigail up in Two Harbors - good practice!
Abs feeding herself . . .!
Jamming with the Wright cousins
New Year Celebrating with Nelly Bear and Amanda

Happy New Year 2009!!!

Hope your New Year is off to a great start! We are back to reality in the UK and staying on for one more year it now looks like (pending visa renewals)! So I'm moving to the Business School to continue in Alumni Relations, and Brian will continue with his same research, but with new funding from Singapore. So that will make things even more interesting for us this year! Otherwise, all is the same, and we hope to travel more this year, while focusing on figuring out our next move for 2010. Hopefully it will be more permanent and closer to home!!

With best wishes for the New Year!

Kelly & Brian

Happy Christmas!!

Yes, we look like dorks, but here we are in London in Trafalgar Square by the Christmas tree and carol singers.

Merry Christmas everyone! Peace and happiness to you and yours.

Love you,

Kelly & Brian

Happy (Belated) Thanksgiving!!

Hope yours was happy! It was a normal work day in the UK, so we had a small Thanksgiving gathering this year - with our friend Jo. She's getting some good face-time on the blog as of late... :) We think she enjoyed the stuffing and helping make the sweet potatoes with marshmallows the best!

Gobble, gobble!

Miss Ya Chazz!

Charlie's been with us for about a month now and we were all up at the crack of dawn to see him off today. He's heading back to the US for more adventures!

This past weekend, we took a day trip to Bath so he could check out the spa town and its elegant architecture. My British friend and colleague Jo had never been to Bath, so we invited her along.

Upon on easy arrival into Bath via the train, we started with a lovely stroll up to the Royal Crescent, and a tour of the posh No. 1 flat. The flat is now a heritage museum, showcasing all the relevant furniture and decor corresponding to the time period of the late 1700s.

Then to find lunch - landing in the Jane Austen museum tea room. Jo and I very much liked the "ladies lunching" tea room, and Charlie was a good sport. As he really was the only bloke in there for most of the time, sipping his Jane Austen blend tea!

We thought we should reciprocate then, and have 1/2 pint at the pub so he could catch a bit of the England vs Australia rugby match. Who knew rugby and American football are fairly similar?!

Next, a visit along the river heading towards the Bath Abbey and then the highlight Roman Baths. I've been in there about 4 times now, so I shopped a bit while Charlie and Jo checked it out. One more stroll around the river, a quick sandwich and off we headed back to Oxford!

Just touched down in London town . . .

While bro Charlie is here, we took a day trip to London to check out things out. It's been awhile since Bri and I had gone in to the city for a day. Charlie saw London briefly last summer with Mom & Dad, but the three of us wanted to go and check out some new stuff.

Right away we went to the north part of the city - St Regents Park/Hampstead/Camden area. Charlie wanted to find Abbey Road - where the Beatles recorded all of their albums in London. It's pretty easy to find and cool to be on the spot where their infamous walk across the zebra crossing is. It's hard to do yourselves though with all the traffic!

We were caught in the rain, so wandered aimlessly about for a bit, but trying to get to the London Zoo. On our way, we passed Lord's Cricket Grounds, which is a huge and famous stadium.

Made it to London Zoo via Regent's Park (the largest in London) and saw lots of unique animals. The London Zoo as been around for a long time, so the facility itself is ageing, but the animals are well taken care of and are really amazing.

For you Harry Potter fans, in the first movie, Harry talks to a snake at the London Zoo and it was filmed right where Charlie is standing here in the Reptile House.

We then continued to Camden Town to check out the Camden Market and Camden Locks area. It's a really young and happening town, which was fun to see. A couple different types of market areas to walk around and see the wares. Lots of it has become the cheap clothes, but at the Camden Locks many of the booths were the better quality handmade crafts. Stopped for a pint of course, and a really nice pub tucked away. Then made reservations for dinner at a Greek place back down in the city centre/West End district. That was perfect, so that we didn't have to roam around looking for a place to eat.

We then walked around Picadilly Circus/Leceister Square and Trafalgar Square before din-din. Dinner was very enjoyable, but we realized the Greek place in Summertown by our flat was probably even better food! After dinner we stopped for hot cocoas and walked through China Town. Luckily we caught one of the last trains back to Oxford and were really tired once we finally made it to the flat. Another successful trip to the big city! Next weekend: Bath!