Films

Ah, good ol' films. For the complete duration of my (almost) 24 years of living, I have been asked many times "What type of movies do you like?" Or, "What's your favorite movie?" I've never had a completely clear answer, as the truth lies in: cheesy romantic chick-flicks or Disney movies. However, since meeting Peter and his entire film collection, my definition of a good film has changed. It has been fun getting to know his style and taste in films, and I have really enjoyed the majority of them.
 I've compiled a list of the most recent films we've watched. You might be surprised to find a couple of "classics," that unfortunately, I am just now seeing for the first time.

Gran Torino

Sunshine
V for Vendetta
PSYCHO
28 Days Later

Cast Away
Speed

Crash
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

Rain Man

Ghost Busters (1&2)

Cloverfield

Lost in Translation

The Beach

Catch Me if you Can

Crocodile Dundee

Edward Scissor Hands

Lord of the Rings Trilogy

In Bruges

A Good Year

Pan's Labyrinth

Shutter Island

At the Cinema:

Monsters

Tron
127 Hours
The King's Speech

Not a fan of:

Apocalypto

Signs

I had him watch:

That thing you do

October Sky

We love and watched over Christmas:

Mr. Holland's Opus

-Christmas-

Christmas this year was spent in Lyminge with Peter's family. We drove over the night before and spent the night there, enjoying home cooked meals and the warmth of the fireplace in their lounge. Christmas morning we were out of bed around 9 ready to open our presents :-) I was surprised with how generous Santa was this year, as I am still such a new addition! Peter has got us tickets to see Wizard of Oz  in London for February, his parents got me a really nice black dress that I had my eye on, a cookbook, jewelry stand, and a few other sweet bits, and Cat got Peter and I a cooking lesson in London which we are so excited for! After opening our presents and enjoying a few delicious sausage rolls, we headed over to see the grandparents. Once back in Lyminge, we enjoyed a really relaxing and lazy afternoon sitting in the lounge watching movies by the fireplace. Peter and I took a nice walk up to the church close by before dinner and ended up taking some really nice pictures as the sun was setting and the snow was still hanging around. Just before heading to sleep on Christmas, we got mom's skype working. So I was able to see everyone over for dinner; Mom, Miranda, Nana and Tata--that was really nice :-)  Anyhow, here are a few pictures of our walk through Lyminge on Christmas!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

ONE

A few years ago, Starbucks released a book titled "FIVE." The theme: Where will you be in 5 years?
Filled with questions and quotes, it is just the type of book that is right up my alley. Inspirational. Motivational. I am in love with it, and anytime I need a boost, I pick it up.


A few years later, I was in Seattle.  I was sitting inside a Starbucks with a good friend, enjoying a holiday beverage I'm sure, looking out at the stunning view of Puget sound and the Olympic Mountains. I noticed...Starbucks had come out with a second book, this time titled "ONE." After immediately purchasing it, one of the first few pages had this story that nearly brought tears to my eyes :-) Enjoy.


Seattle is a beautiful place, but in the 1980s I was living in a beat-up beach cabin. I had an old TV, a lumpy futon, and one of those white plastic Princess Phones. I was basically broke, but my noisy old refrigerator was stuffed with fresh vegetables, eggs, fruit, beer and frozen pizza...and I had a spectacular view of Puget Sound, the Olympic Mountains and the Seattle skyline.

That year, I volunteered to host a college exchange student from Guinea-Bissau, Africa. When I picked him up at the airport, Salvatore was easy to spot. He was 23 tall and regal-looking, with a huge smile and lustrous blue-black skin. He had lived his entire life as a barefoot fisherman in a small native village located on a big river deep in the jungle of Guinea-Bissau...and now his village had raised the money to send him to study U.S. Fisheries on their behalf. He had travelled directly from his African village to Seattle, and I could see he was astonished at what he saw as we drove through the beautiful city.

When we arrived at my raggedy cabin, I worried that Salvatore might be disappointed with his new accommodations. He seemed somber as I showed him the little bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, TV and telephone. What was Salvatore thinking? I decided to take him out on the little deck to try to impress him with the view. The snow-clad mountains were spread out against the sky that day, and one of Seattle's majestic white ferries was gliding across the sparkling waters of Puget Sound. We stood there silently for awhile, and then Salvatore turned to me with his brow deeply knit in thought.

"You are a king?" he asked. "No," I laughed "I'm just an everyday person like you." Salvatore was silent for a moment , and then he turned again and said quite clearly and emphatically, "You are a King." And it suddenly dawned on me that he was right. All these years I had been a king and not known it.

Story by Scott Sabol, Ph.D.

Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland!

It's snowing! And has been for the last couple of days! If there is one thing to boost your holiday cheer and completely get you in the spirits, it has definitely been this white winter so far! The effect that snow has on people is amazing! I have been feeling like such a kid in this snow! My first instinct after walking into it was to immediately catch snowflakes on my tongue--though most people grow out of this silly pastime, I have a bit of catching up to do! Here are a few photos of our gorgeous winter wonderland so far!

The view from our window

Our street

My wellies in action!

Just before our snowball fight, we were getting JP's window!

 Yesterday the snow was heavy, and the roads so icy, that no one could really get to work! So, Peter had the day to spend with me :-) We walked into town, just to get out and play in the snow a little, bought a few things and got a bit of Christmas shopping done, sang a few Christmas songs while chasing each other with snowballs, and then came home to have a snowball fight with JP and Cat. I can definitely tell the difference from when I first got here til now, in terms of my adjusting to the cold. I think I was just learning how to dress appropriately, really. So now I find that I must wear: boots, tights, thick socks, jeans, long sleeve, sweatshirt, coat, gloves, scarf and hat, and then I am okay!

So last week was Thanksgiving. As I am sure everyone already knows, it is not a holiday here, only in America! My friend Freddy had sent me a site: allrecipes.com to inspire me. And it did just that! This site was so helpful, in that it provides how-to-videos along with tons of recipes. I studied the videos and recipes for a few days until I was feeling confident. I created a shopping list, bought the items, along with a few kitchen items as well (a measuring cup, measuring spoons, and an egg slicer), and was ready to make my first Thanksgiving dinner! Here is what we made:

• A salad with mixed greens, walnuts, beets and sliced eggs
• Mashed potatoes, gravy and stuffing (Peter made these)
• Sautéed green beans with sliced almonds
• A sweet potato casserole topped with melted marshmallows
• A roast chicken stuffed with rosemary and lemon wedges
• and for dessert...a pumpkin pie! Baked after cooking a pumpkin to make our pumpkin puree, served with vanilla ice cream and/or whipped cream! 

I knew these were fairly high expectations to have, seeing as how I hardly ever cook, but I was pleasantly surprised with how perfect everything turned out! I think the videos really helped me since I seem to be more of a visual-tactile learner...so I had the videos playing while I did it myself, and it made everything seem so easy! Peter brought home a nice bottle of wine and some pretty fall colored flowers which topped off the perfect evening to our perfect Thanksgiving meal :-) Here is how it turned out:

A few days after Thanksgiving is when the snow started! It was only a light snowfall at first, not like what it is now, so we decided to take a little walk in the forest. It was so pretty, it reminded me so much of Narnia, too!

His parent's garden

On the drive back to Canterbury

Last week also started a slight obsession with going to the driving range. Peter is an avid golfer, and so after trying to convince me for a few days to head up to the driving range, I finally gave in. It had been so cold the evenings we went, and obviously the range is outdoors, but after Peter gave me a few lessons and I was hitting the ball, I was wanting to go every night! First, let me say, Peter is amazing. Like, jaw-dropping, knock my socks off good! :-) So having him teach me and give me pointers has been so much fun, and I love feeling so enchanted watching him.

I have also recently introduced Peter to Scrabble. He's never played before! We picked it up at a Pub while we were drinking our pear ciders and waiting for our burgers, and it was hilarious watching him learn trying to use words going in all directions. So after realizing that he had this game at home, we've had a couple of nights where we'll be playing for hours :-) Another cozy pastime we've found while cuddling up on the sofa having the snow fall outside, is watching Home Alone 1&2. Such great, classic holiday films to get you in the spirit and feeling like a kid again as you start to remember the lines and laugh out loud. Good times so far in Canterbury! I am so excited to continue growing as an individual, and in love! 'Til next time!