Cookies, Cosette, and College Decisions

Since I have neglected to be consistent in posting - here's another post from the weekend (yesterday)!

It's been quite an exciting weekend, and I wouldn't want to leave you out of it.

1. The weather has been absolutely phenomenal, and I have enjoyed some much-needed time outdoors. After Big Issues on Friday, Liz and I headed to the patio of the Turf Tavern to finish planning our end of term travels - to Espana! And, before that happens, I'll be heading to Berlin to visit Sophie over spring break - which I am thrilled about!

who needs lectures when you can get "an education in intoxication"? haha!

2. On Friday night, Tom decided to bake oatmeal raisin cookies. Now, I love baking, and I LOVE oatmeal raisin cookies, so I quickly joined him to help. Funny though, the amount of dough produced for his recipe filled the biggest bowl we have in our whole house! Turns out, even after snacking on far too much of the dough, we had a loaves and fishes scenario on our hands as we made batch after batch and eventually counted 104 cookies. 

Most of them are gone now though. 37 hungry mouths will do that! They were delicious. Secret? Soak the raisins in hot water before adding them to the dough. It makes them much softer and yummier. And add cinnamon. Because as I always say, cinnamon makes everything taste better. A solid 3 hours of baking? Definitely worth every minute of it.

3. Yesterday I went into London for the day. I had the chance to spend the morning walking around the city (in search of the Tate Modern, which after 2.5 hours of walking toward we figured we'd never actually find :D) with Jessica, who spent a semester last year in Williamsburg and attended Tribe Fellowship at William and Mary, and is now back home in London. It was great to catch up. 

Westminster Abbey with Jessica!

the perfect day

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We also tried the cupcakes at a Georgetown Cupcakes-esque bakery in the city - delish! 

Hummingbird Bakery

Black Bottom Cupcake: dark chocolate cupcake base,
topped with cheesecake and cream cheese frosting! heavenly!

I then joined up with friends to see Les Mis on the West End. Incredible show, just absolutely incredible. I love love loved Eponine's voice, as well as Fantine's. I loved the whole show.

4. Kelsey's officially decided - she's going to SPU! My beautiful, brilliant, hilarious, sweet little sister, all grown up. I am SO excited for her, and I can't wait to see all that God has in store for her there. I'm also so glad that she will be close to our awesome family out in Seattle (which gives me even more of a reason to visit out there more often!).

Kelsey's SPU bound!
Yay!

5. Tonight, a few friends and I are going "The Voice UK" A Cappella competition. It's a UK-wide competition, touring major cities and then selecting one group from each to the finals next month in London - it should be a GREAT show! I have missed a cappella!

Learning

celebrating v-day at the vines!

I’ve learned a lot in the past couple of weeks. I suppose being at Oxford and attending copious amounts of scholarly lectures on random subjects (this week: Max Weber and the Protestant Work Ethic, Health and Social Class, the patterns of voters in political soc., the ethics of the church and state, and something about trends in Industrial Societies…) that should only be expected. However, being here, I think I’ve learned as much outside the classroom (or the library, rather) as I have in it.

sunny walk along the Thames River

I’ve learned that…Every tutorial isn’t perfect. I can survive double-tutorial day on less than 3 hours of sleep, but it’s certainly not much fun. G&D’s cafes all stand for different names…that start with G and D. I can (and finally did...) bike to the top of Headington Hill. Jericho Café makes a killer mocha. Christ Church meadow and the Thames River are the perfect place for an afternoon walk. Starbucks here doesn’t brew decaf filter coffee (?!). When putting a bike chain back on, it's better not to put your fingers between the chain and the metal gear you're trying to put it around. Pink white-chocolate popcorn is absolutely brill. The power goes out even in England. The Oxford modern art museum is as weird as it looks, but it has some nice art. Farmers Market blueberries are way better than Tescos.

Focus small group dinner party at Emily's - such a fun night!

I’ve also learned a lot from God these past couple of weeks. I’ve been reminded that he is faithful. His timing is not my timing, but thankfully his is perfect. He comes through when I need his help, not just when I want it. He is certainly good at surprising me with his faithfulness, but he never forgets me. I’ve always believed that Jeremiah 29:11 is true, but these past few weeks I was reminded of how incredible, and how real it truly is. His plans are perfect, and they span far beyond what I could ever imagine.

On a completely unrelated note, an amusing tidbit:

I’ve taken “running to the grocery store” to a new level of literal meaning this week by twice realising I needed an ingredient that I didn’t have and kitting up and running into Headington (the quaint little town just up the road) to pick it up. Last Sunday, when I ran in to buy a giant chocolate bar for a friend's baking project, I could sense the cashier’s amusement with the whole thing. I think it’s brilliant. Kill two birds with one stone!

Chipolopolo Champions!

Zambia takes the Cup!

Last night marked one of the most exciting evenings in the history of the world (and no I'm not talking about the Grammies). Here's why...

At 7:30pm, Zambia and the Ivory Coast began the final match of the Africa Cup of Nations (Picture the Superbowl but it's countries, and real football. Then multiply your team pride by an exponent of a thousand.). Zambia, the underdog team, had never even made it to the finals round of the AFCON in their history as a team. Needless to say, this was THE chance for Zambia to prove itself to all of Africa, to show that despite being lesser known that the IC football team, they came to win.

Zambia's defense was spot on last night, even after one of its top defenders was injured within the first ten minutes of the match. At half time the score was nil-nil. When 90 minutes was up and not a point had been scored (and the Ivory Coast had missed the one PK of the match!), overtime started. However, as the teams played into the night through a steady drizzle and the deafening cheers of fans, defense on both sides held strong, and the scoreboard remained unchanged.

Next came the penalty kicks. At this point, I was practically hyperventilating with excitement and anxiousness about the outcome. Christoph and Andrew joined me to cheer for the Chipolopolo boys. Zambia and the Ivory Coast each made 4 of the 5 goals (including a PK by the Zambian goalkeeper, Mweene, which I found surprising, but it seemed to catch the IC goalie off-guard!). Tied again.

It was time for sudden death. I almost couldn't watch, as Zambia and the IC both scored their next PKs. The seventh penalty kicks were both missed. Then, in the most exciting moment of Zambian football - I'd argue ever - the IC missed their PK and Sunzu NAILED his right into the goal, making Zambia the CHAMPIONS OF AFRICA!

cheering Zambia to victory with Christoph, Andrew, and Courtney!

One Zambia, One Nation. So proud!

a snowy week in oxford!

Pullens Lane in the Snow!

Headington Hill Snow/Slush!

St.John's!

Well, we're already late for our lecture, so why not take pictures of ducks along the way?

Wycliffe Hall Formal Dinner with Laz, Jesse, and Victoria

Double desserts!

crazy photo-bombing going on

after the dinner, with Tom, Abby, Melisa, Zak, Jesse and Elisabeth!

let it snow.

look yall, it's snowing!

our oh-my-gosh snow faces

elisabeth's snow dance, perhaps?

leah

and melisa!

snowball fight

perfect throw! (leah, charlotte, laz, and elisabeth)

courtney captured the mayhem so well 

and yes, that snowball flying toward me did hit my face .15 seconds later.
gotta work on my reflexes before the next oxford blizzard.

Before the snow came...

This week was a whirlwind of numerous meaningful, amusing, and enlightening moments. They are quite unrelated, so instead of attempting to weave them together with superfluous transition phrases, I'll just go for bullet points.

- Silk: Earlier this week, Jake Schneider (another study-abroader from WM who's at Hertford College!) and I were walking to the Rad Cam through this little road when we got stopped by a guy with a walkie talkie who asked us to wait for a minute. Turns out they were filming an episode of Silk (a BBC Drama) in that very alley and a motorcycle needed to drive through it really quickly. We tried to become extras in the episode, with no luck, but maybe next time (apparently I do not look like I'm Daniel Craig's niece...it was worth a try though!)!

- Sports Quiz: Quiz nights are a popular nightly pub event here. This week St. Ebbe's hosted a quiz for the Christians in Sport society (similar idea to FCA...). Elisabeth, Tom, and I decided that although we lack British sports knowledge, we could help out at the event. Easy enough, right? Friday night, however, quickly became a comedy of errors. We got a late start leaving the Vines (what a surprise!), and then Elisabeth had to find a bike to borrow. That took longer than expected, but then a bike fixer was showed up at our house, so he quickly fixed my broken brakes.

We were good to go. A minute later, at the bottom of Headington hill, I was so grateful to have working brakes. That gratefulness quickly turned to not-so-gratefulness when I braked and they just wouldn't release. Having the brakes stuck on makes a bike slightly less useful. We chained them up and walked to church, and arrived having only missed the first course. It ended up being a very fun night, and a great chance to talk with other St. Ebbe's students both at the quiz and at the pub afterwards. However, walking back to our bikes in the -6° weather then trekking .84 miles up Headington hill dragging a bike with the brakes stuck on was one of the more ridiculous moments I've had thus far...

- Moritz: Definitely a highlight of the week - Moritz Wagner, a friend of mine from AIS Lusaka days who studies at University of Bath now, came to Oxford and we got to hang out! I never would have guessed at my graduation party that the next time we'd see each other would be in Oxford, England (I mean, his family's back in Germany now, I'm at uni in the US...it's just a small world!).

- Big Issues: Friday was quite cold (maybe it broke freezing, maybe not?), so in lieu of our weekly football match attendance (and Jesse's away, so obvi we wouldn't want to got without her!), Elisabeth and I went to check out Big Issues - a weekly lunchtime pub talk put on by OICCU that offers a response to some of the "Big Issues" people have with the Christian faith. It was a great chance to hear a local pastor's response to the question this week: Why trust the Bible? If anyone reading ever wants to come along with me - let me know. Friday's at 1pm, and free lunch too!

beautiful sunshine in Oxford, worth capturing!
(best part was the guy who came up and asked if I wanted to be in the picture too...haha. no. I am not a tourist. I just like the sun.)

- This is Jesus: This week is "This is Jesus" week at Oxford, basically the university-wide mission focus week. Tim Keller will be here speaking to Oxford students every night. I would appreciate prayers for the Oxford Uni community - pray that God will show up in amazing ways this week and that university students will be interested in attending the events. Also pray that the Christian student community here will be able to respond well to any opportunities we have this week to share our own faith! (www.thisisjesus.org).

That's it for now!