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Chris and I spent New Year's Eve 2013 in London! 

It was a little bit crazy, since we only flew in from Texas that morning, but we took a nap at our hotel and then were ready to meet up with our friends, Luke and Aubree, for a very memorable night! 

We found a great spot on the Thames Embankment, RIGHT across the river from the London Eye (AKA, the focal point of the fireworks display!). At first, we felt a bit silly for standing in the middle of the road while everyone crowded up against the river bank, but our forethought was rewarded with a great view!

Luke and Aubree came very prepared with beverages to keep us warm and champagne to help us ring in the new year! (Thanks guys!!)

It was a wonderful experience and a fantastic way to start 2014.

(Click the photos to see them full sized - and stay tuned for videos!)

<3 laura and chris 

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Chris and I wrote a Christmas letter and were able to get it to many of you, but if yours happened to get lost in the mail, here it is!

(Click above to enlarge and read!)

Cheers!

<3 Laura

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Happy Christmas from the Fresches!

We hope your Christmas is filled with joy!

<3 Chris and Laura

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I want to go to Brighton!

  If you just read this post's title in your head with an English accent while thinking of Lydia Bennet, we can be best friends. If you have no clue what I'm talking about...well, maybe there's still hope for you yet. We'll see.

Last December was full of some really great things, the first of which was our third anniversary!

We had never ventured down to Brighton before, so we thought it was about time we went. Nevermind that it was December. It's England, so it's not like we'd be getting in the water anyways!

The day we headed out was a (typical) rainy day in England, but we'd already booked our hotel, so off we went! Unfortunately, however, England is not overly prepared to deal with large amounts of rain. About two hours into our trip we were suddenly forced off our train and onto a bus due to flooding and electric fires further down the line!! The 120 mile trip took four hours in total! (Oh England.) Luckily, we weren't surrounded by morose, weary travelers - the Brits sitting near us on our bus were having a jolly time! (They had brought along some Bailey's Irish Cream, complete with legit glasses, to enjoy on their journey. We were clearly not in America!)

   This quote was in our hotel room - very appropriate if you ask me!

We eventually made it to the seaside and checked into our cute hotel before going out to explore the (rainy) (and windy) sites. Maybe it's just because we don't get out of Cambridge much (we were car-less back then, remember?) but we LOVED Brighton. Even during the cold, rainy off-season, it was charming. Also? They had "real" stores. Like a Krispy Kreme!! (See also: Urban Outfitters and American Apparel.  What? What country are we in?) 

It was the week before Christmas, so there were pretty lights everywhere.

Travel Tip: A hair-dryer works WONDERS when you need to warm something up in your microwave-less hotel room. (ie Krispy Kreme donuts that have gone cold because you had to walk a mile back to your hotel when it's 35°F out.) 

Brrrrrr - I bet that water is ICY!

Brighton has a rock-beach as opposed to sand, so we really enjoyed walking along the seaside and down the big board-walk. We would love to go back in the "summer" to experience it sans wind and winter coats, though.

We ended our trip with a stop at a French cafe (Cocoa Patisserie) that we discovered on our wanderings and I'm so glad we did! It was opened by an award-winning pastry chef and the whole experience was delightful! Chris enjoyed a decedent chocolate dessert while I savored the best lavender macaroon of my life. (<--This is not hyperbole.)

"Enjoying a macaroon is like eating a whole cake, but by yourself and sitting on a cloud" - Julien Plumart (the above mentioned pastry chef)

  We <3 Brighton!

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And We're Back!

To blogging that is, not to America. 

I'm a little bit in disbelief that it's been nine months since we last wrote here. We've been meaning to write (promise!), so I don't know what happened. But, let's chalk it up to the crazy English weather and move on, shall we? 

A LOT has happened since we last wrote, so my goal is for us to touch on some of the highlights over next few months. (Providing we don't take another 9 month hiatus!!) I generally have a strong need to be linear in all things, but I'm going to throw my OCD linear-ness to the wind for awhile and start with the most recent news for now.

Sound good?

(Please say yes, because if you really want me to go back to last November and write linearly from there, I will probably just abandon this whole endeavor and then you won't get to hear about our newly acquired freedom from Cambridge. Or the time I sort of ran off the side of a mountain in Switzerland. Or the time Chris ran a quasi-marathon in Venice while chasing a water taxi. Or the time we took a car, train, and bus to Brighton in the middle of the winter. Can I stop now?)

Even if you've said "no" to non-linearism, I'm going to give you a freebie and tell you about our new lease on life, brought about by our new freedom from the 2-mile radius around our flat. (Because I'm nice like that. And also because I'm excited.)

    We bought a car!!!

      Well, we actually bought it at the end of April. We've had it for four months. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to legally drive it until this past Friday. We don't even need to talk about how ridiculous this whole situation has been. 

So, more excitingly:

I have my UK driving license!!!! 

Now this is something to actually celebrate!! I am so thrilled. (Also, it doesn't expire until I'm 70, so I will never have to go through this process again!!) 

For those of you who are not familiar with Cambridge (or England, really), this is a big deal! First, because the driving test is really strict. Even thought I've been driving for about a decade in America, I still needed to take driving lessons. And even then, I was still overly nervous that I wouldn't pass. But second, transportation around England isn't as easy as you friends on the other side of the ocean like to believe. Yes, there are lots of trains, but they are also stupidly expensive and don't always have routes to the places you are trying to go. (Like the next village over, for instance.) We are so excited about our newfound mobility! 

We are thrilled about the new opportunities this will bring us. So far, we have taken advantage of our new mobility by driving to a nearby village for a church meeting and driving west to a larger town for an "American" day of TGI Fridays and Ikea! (Remember how hard it was for us to go to Ikea without a car? Refresher here.) 

Here is Chris with our new car, Giles, back in April. He's not much to look at (Giles, not Chris!), but he's our ticket to exploration! (He even has a sunroof, for those 5 nice days we have a year!)

We found him on Gumtree (the UK equivalent of Craigslist), so we're hoping he'll serve us well for the next two years until we can pass him on to the next lucky owners! 

<3

laura

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British-isms Part 3 - Pronunciation & Spelling Edition

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

It is quite strange to be celebrating Thanksgiving in England - Laura had to take a day of holiday to be off today!

We are mostly relaxing today and will be eating a traditional Thanksgiving meal with our fellow displaced Americans (and a few Canadians and South Africans) tonight.

In the meantime, we thought today would be the perfect time to share some additional British-isms with you. We hope this keeps you entertained while you wait for the turkey to be ready! 

Here we go with round three of British-isms we've picked up on! 

(For rounds one and two, click HERE and HERE)

Let's start with some silly pronunciations, shall we?

21. In America, we pronounce the store that sells office supplies as "Office DEE-po". In England? "DEPP-oh". Laura has to admit that she usually lets out a small giggle whenever she hears this one. (And, working in an office environment, she probably hears this one more than the average person.) 

22. In America, most houses have a garage, generally pronounced as "ga-RAJH". Here? "GARE-ejh".

23. While Chris was reading a Dr. Suess book with some British children a few months ago, we noticed that it had been British-ised a bit in that it used £s instead of $s. However, the editors made one big mistake: the book still ended by rhyming something to "x, y, & z". Unfortunately, (and unexplainably) the Brits pronounce the last letter of the alphabet as "zed". 

24. Following on that, the letter "H" is pronounced as "HAche". (So WEIRD!) 

25. Some more "H" weirdness: while in the States we leave the "H" silent when referring to delicious things such as basil and rosemary, the Brits pronounce the "H" in "herbs" and will correct you if you leave it off.  

26. And not to start a controversy, but according to Chris, the British pronounce that word "conTROversy". 

And now on to spelling...

27. A spelling that affects Laura's everyday life due to its presence in the name of her department: "programme". Why the need for two extra letters?? Who knows. But no one ever said England was efficient...

28. Following on the thread of extra letters, you all probably know that Brits use an "ou" when a simpler "o" will do in America, but did you know how easy this habit is to pick up? Laura finds herself writing "colour" and "favourite" without even thinking about it. What is happening to her? 

29. Unfortunately, the Brits don't just replace "o"s with "ou"s, they also sometimes replace "u"s! Case in point: "houmous". WHAT?

30. Another spelling change that has been easy to pick up? Using "S" instead of "Z". Zs are basically non-existant in England. Organisation, realise, cosy, capitalise...the list goes on. This is another one Laura has started doing without realising it. (Our American-English spellchecker is freaking out right now at our use of "ou" and lack of "z"s!) 

So there you go. Happy British talking and spelling.  Enjoy your turkey!

Until next time! <3 

[freschfamily-blog]

{Click on the photos to make them bigger!}

Last month, both my mom and Chris’s mom came to Cambridge to see us! However, since Chris and I spend so much (read: all) of our time in Cambridge, we were just itching to get away for a bit. It didn’t take much convincing on our part to get them to agree to take a trip with us to Paris!!

I won't bore you with all the details, but here is what we did/saw:

Disneyland Paris(!), Versailles, Musee D'Orsay, a picnic dinner by the Eiffel Tower, a trip to the top of the Eiffel Tower (complete with champagne!), the Louvre, the Musee De l'Orangerie (For Monet's Water Lillie's), dessert (and lunch) at the famous Angelina's, Notre Dame, Basilique du Sacre-Coeur, dinner in Montmartre, the Arc de Triomphe, the Towers of Notre Dame, Sainte Chapelle, and Trocadero. 

There are photos of most of these things at my flickr site here~~> Flickr

We also consumed a large number of croissants and cafe cremes. <3

The trip was fantastic and I think Chris and I may have found a new city to add to our list of favourites. Thanks, Moms!

{P.S. If you're going to Paris and want a tour guide, we would be happy to help you in exchange for room and board! hint hint!} 

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British-isms Part 2

I have been keeping a list of these things as I think of them and it is getting quite long, so I thought I'd share some. Picking up where we left off with Number 11:

(If you missed Part 1, you can read it HERE.)

11. Tea (and coffee) is big tradition. Every church service we've been to (at at least four different churches) has tea and coffee after every service. Any time we've gathered in someone's home after a meal, tea & coffee is offered.  

12. Following on that, you rarely hear someone ask if you want to meet them for coffee (or tea), but rather "Would you like to meet for A coffee?" Similarly, while in America it might be common to say "I'm going to get some coffee from the kitchen", in the British workplace, you commonly hear something along the lines of "I'm just going to pop to the cafe for a tea (coffee)."

13. Related to that, "pop" is an extremely common verb. "I'm going to pop out for a walk", "I'm going to pop upstairs for a minute", and "let me pop to the toilet" are all things I hear on a daily basis. 

14. On that note, contrary to popular America belief, the word "loo" is not used in place of "bathroom" as frequently as people like to think. It's often just called a toilet. Which sometimes feels a little...blunt? But, you get used to it.  (This does depend a bit on the company you keep.  It seems to be more prevalent in some circles than in others.)

15. In England, no one has a backyard or a lawn, rather many people have a "garden."  Here, that does not imply a designated area to grow flowers or vegetables; it is simply a privately owned open green space.

16. While waiting for something (a late bus, for instance, or a cup of coffee), you do not stand in a line but rather a "queue." 

17. Asking someone whether they will be wearing nice pants for an outing will probably get you a lot of awkward looks, as "pants" in England is equivalent to underwear. The proper word to use would be "trousers." 

18. Your train does not "stop" in several cities before reaching your destination, it "calls" at them. For instance, I have taken a train from King's Cross to Cambridge, calling first at Royston, then Cambridge, then a bunch of other places I didn't pay attention to because I got off at Cambridge!

19. When entering a place of business, the salespeople are not likely to ask "How can I help you?" but rather, "Can I help...?" with the higher-pitch inflection on the word "help".

20. Finally, the Brits clearly know how to have more fun than the Americans! While we generally reserve the use of the word "holiday(s)" for some time in the November-January range, the Brits use "holiday(s)" much more widely. It is used to describe vacations, days off from work, bank holidays, and the "typical" holiday season. For instance, just last week I saw a display at the local pharmacy advertising stocking up on sun-protection for your holidays, complete with a drawing of people in swimsuits. In my American-mind, I would never in a million years equate sunscreen and swimwear with the "holidays", but obviously they were talking about school holidays (which began just a few weeks ago) rather than Christmas. 

So there is your dose of British culture for the day. Use these terms and impress (or repel?) your friends with your British-ness! <3

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Long time no blog!

Wow! It's been a while. {Understatement much?}

I have lots to share, but I've had sort of a writer's block due to traveling, working longer hours, and this massive heat wave we just had! {I'm not even joking about the heat wave. 80 degrees may sound like paradise to you Houstonian readers out there, but when you walk everywhere and don't have air-conditioning anywhere, it's brutal! And there I go talking about the weather...maybe I really am becoming British?}

Anyways, we're home-free for the next while and the typical cool British summer weather has returned for now. 

So what's happened since our adventurous May Ball evening {..night, dawn, and morning}? I already told you: Lots! {Apologies in advance for the non-linearism of this post. I'm throwing my Type A-ness out the window for today!} 

For starters, I joined Chris in the 25-year-old club! I am really looking forward to the next time I complete a questionnaire and don't have to check the 18-24 age box! So far, 25 has been good and stable: I haven't moved to a new country, I haven't drastically changed my hair color, and I haven't gotten any tattoos. Nothing at ALL like 24. :) Now if only people would finally quit asking if I was 18, life would be perfect!

The week after our May Ball, Chris and I said "sayonara" to England and headed back to America for a bit!! Unfortunately {or fortunately, considering that we are averse to extreme temperates as noted above}, we didn't make it all the way west to Texas. Instead, we spent a wonderful week at the Outer Banks with a good portion of Chris's extended family. The Norwegian wing of the family joined us for most of the time and even my parents got to make an appearance for a few days! 

Some highlights from the trip:

This was the view every day! 

Here is just one (plus Chris!) of the tons of family members we got to hang out with!

AND, we visited the famous sand dunes right before sunset. So great! {Also, while it looks flat, don't be fooled! We are way high up! This photo was followed by a laughter-filled run down the side of the dune with all the kids!}

The day before we left for America, I got some great news from my work: I got the full time position! My office and I got everything finalized when Chris and I got back in town and my first official day as a fully legit employee at Cambridge University was the day after my birthday - July 16! They took my photo, put it and my bio up on our department's website, and gave me a Cambridge University photo ID! And then?? Nothing changed. Most anticlimactic new job ever! {This is mainly because my job as a temp was the exact same as my job now, I just get more vacation and the security of knowing it's for longer than a few months. But it's also because everyone has been super friendly from the beginning and no one really treated me like just a temp before anyways.} So this is great news! No more job searching! I am so blessed with this job! Also? My office is pretty spectacular. Case in point: on Thursday around three, we are going to a local sports field and having an Olympic Sports day complete with three-legged races, tasty food, and adult drinks. That fact that the high is around 70 on Thursday makes this even cooler! Admit it, you're jealous.

A week after we got back to Cambridge {and the day after my birthday!!} Chris hopped on a train to Manchester for a conference. He was there through Thursday, when he then hopped on a plane to Germany for another conference! {So jealous!} I managed to survive the week without him alright and without spending all the money he left me, but it was the first time he's been out of town without me since we moved across the ocean from all our friends and family, so it wasn't exactly a cake-walk either. {See: plumbing problems and emergency help from our friendly neighbor!}

Now we're in for a laid-back few months with some friends (hi Lindsay and Jose!) and family visiting us in August and September. We'll celebrate our Cambridge anniversary the first week of September, and Chris will start his second year of his PhD in October! 

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Party Time!

Chris and I went to our first ever May Ball this weekend and it was quite the experience!

  It started at 9:00pm on Friday night, so Chris took a nap on Friday morning and I came home from work a little early to take a nap. The funny thing about this is that I can usually only nap during the day if it's not something I need to do. If I need to nap, forget it. So, despite our preperations, we didn't get much sleep. :)

A few weeks ago, I had decided that I would put my hair in an updo myself and practiced what I would do. The result was pretty great for someone who had never actually done a succesful updo before, (especially not on myself!) so, with that self-confidence, I began fixing my hair for the ball. Unfortunately, I had forgotten everything that I had done two weeks ago. So, that was fun. :)

Meanwhile, Chris googled videos on how to tie a bow tie. I know. You're probably thinking to yourself, "These people are so dumb. Everyone knows how to tie a bow-tie." But let me tell you something, this is no easy task. At least not with British bow-ties. We have two bachelors degrees, two masters degrees, and a third of a PhD between us, and we still couldn't make it work. (We've become pretty certain that it requires magic.) So, that was also fun. Or not.

Around 10, we finished getting ready and headed around the corner for the ball. About half way there, the warmth from our flat wore off an I realized just how cold it was outside. I was born and raised in southern Texas. Where it's currently 101 degrees Fahrenheit. I was not built to wear short dresses without a coat in 40-50 degree weather! I will save you some suspense and just tell you now: I wasn't warm again until I crawled into bed at 5:30 am. Yeah.

So, hair, bow-tie, and temperature issues aside, the evening was great!!!

    We started the night out with a prom-style photo (below) and a glass of champagne as we walked around to the different tents seeing what all there was to see.

      Here's the breakdown of the offerings at St. Edmund's 2012 May Ball:

  First, there was lots of food and drink throughout the night. Instead of serving all the food and drink options all at once, there was a schedule for what times different options would be available (so, at one bar, there were gin-based drinks for the first few hours of the night, then rum-based drinks for a bit, and then vodka-based drinks at the end). We greatly enjoyed partaking in the evening's offerings: pizza (Papa John's - my favorite!), freshly spun cotton candy (also my favorite!!!), hamburgers, curry (Chris's favorite!), noodles, bacon on a roll, and a goodly portion of different alcoholic beverages (and this list was only what we ate, there were many other options as well).

  Second, the entertainment. There were two tents where the majority of entertainment was held. The main, big tent featured live bands throughout the night. The ones that we heard were very good. Some fit the theme of the evening (The Great Gatsby) with jazz and swing, while some ventured outside of the theme (our favorite band was this Spanish/flamenco/North African style band. Fantastic). The other tent held a silent disco most of the night. If you have not been to a silent disco ... go. find. one. We had so much fun! At the silent disco, we were given wireless headphones with three different channels from which to choose. We would then pick whichever channel we wanted to listen to and start dancing with everyone else in the tent who were dancing to their own choices of music. Most of the time, everyone in the tent would pick the same channel, that is, the one with the most exciting, upbeat music. As a result, most everyone would be listening, dancing, and singing to the same music. Now comes the real fun part. If you take off your headphones, you see a lot of people dancing ... to nothing. And then, all of a sudden, the whole tent erupts in the chorus of the same song. And then silence. Amazing. Aside from the two big tents, there was a room for taking a break where some smooth jazz (live) was being played, a hookah tent, a casino, and – oh yeah – bumper cars.

  Here are Chris and me posing for you in one of the entertainment tents. Isn't he handsome?? :)

      The Spanish/flamenco/North African style band:

     Here we are at the silent disco! (It's blurry because we're dancing!) Don't you love the headphones?

    Just a general view of the casino in the combination room:

    All in all, it was an eventful and fun night. We made it to the end, lasting until 5:00 in the morning. It was a blast, and we are looking forward to trying out another May Ball next year! <3

[freschfamily-blog]

Business, Business, Party!!

Remember three weeks ago when we (well, Chris) wrote that summer was upon us? Well, Chris was wrong. Very wrong. In the weeks since posting that, the temperatures have dropped again. I am back to wearing coats to work and drinking coffee and wearing cardigans at my desk, all in an unsuccessful effort to be warm. My office even turned the HEAT on earlier this week. In mid-June. I KNOW. (It is also raining almost every day. Cold rain combined with 20mph+ winds are not fun times...)

Anyways, since most of you readers are probably not English, I will stop discussing the weather.  :)

{But, before I get ahead of myself: Chris turned 25 two weeks ago!! When did my husband turn into such an old man? ;-) The theme of the weekend was "relaxation" and we had a great time eating (too) many of his favorite foods.} 

We have a lot of BIG things happening this week!

First, Chris will have his first year assessment on Monday!! We (or at least I) had been thinking that it would be much further off, at some undecided date at least a month or so in the future, but Chris found out yesterday that it will be on Monday afternoon. Basically, all Cambridge PhD in Divinity students are on a probationary status for their first year. After their first year, they have to submit a portion of their thesis for evaluation.  At Monday's meeting, two assessors will meet with Chris to discuss the work he submitted a few weeks ago, after which, the assessors decide whether he needs to resubmit or can be changed to full, regular status. Since he's already submitted his work, he doesn't have to do too much to prepare for the meeting, but the meeting itself is kind of a huge deal. I know that he will do great, but I'm sure that he would appreciate your prayers for the meeting to go smoothly!

Second, I have an interview on Wednesday!! It's kind of both a big deal and not a big deal at the same time. This is because I am interviewing for the permanent position for which I am currently temping. So, it's a big deal because, hello, permanent job!!! That I would likely stay in for the rest of our time in Cambridge! For a department of the university! But it's also not that big of a deal, because I work with my interviewers every day. And I'm already doing the job. Basically, I don't know how excited to feel about it. You can pray for me, too. :) 

Third, on Saturday, Chris and I will be experiencing another HUGE Cambridge tradition: our first May Ball. To give you some background, almost all of the colleges* of the university have a May Ball every year in June. (Yeah...I don't get that part either.) These are a big deal. Tickets are at least £70 (or more for the posher colleges, I hear) and it's basically like a prom for adults except with more entertainment and a much less dancing. (To give you an example, St John's College, one of the bigger, richer, older, more famous colleges of Cambridge, had their May Ball ranked as the 7th best party in the WORLD by Time Magazine. I think that's sort of a big deal...) St. Edmund's May Ball will no doubt be MUCH less grand than the likes of St. John's (because we're one of the smallest, poorest, and newest colleges), but I think it will still be a big deal. There will be ample food, champagne, and entertainment. (We have no idea what the entertainment will be, however, as all the colleges keep this information under tight wraps for fear that other colleges will steal their ideas.) Another key piece of information? The Ball goes from 9pm to 6am. So I guess it's more like...skipping prom and just having an after party all night. Each college has its own theme, so as ours is The Great Gatsby, Chris will be wearing his tux (complete with a bow-tie!) and I will be wearing a new cocktail dress my mama bought me. :) We are pretty excited! However, we are not as young as we used to be (see above, where I discuss Chris's old age), so I'm not really sure how we are going to pull an all-nighter and party with strangers for nine hours...but I'm sure we'll figure that out. I'm sure the champagne will help. As will the coffee I intend to be continuously drinking all day on Friday. :) 

So, that's our coming week! Monday and Wednesday are important, serious, all-business days and Friday is party time! I will try to take photos! 

*Remember, Cambridge is not set up like US Universities. Colleges aren't subject specific (College of Science, College of Business) but more like the houses in Harry Potter (or, apparently like the colleges at Rice University). The colleges are where students live, eat, have additional advisors, etc. It's the faculties (Faculty of Divinity, Faculty of Science, etc) where students take classes and do their studies. More info about the colleges here.

[freschfamily-blog]

Summer is upon us!

It seems that Cambridge has finally decided to give, albeit reluctantly, into the Spring and Summer seasons.  After about a month and a half of rain and grey skies (apparently, this April saw more rain than any other April in the past 100 years), we are enjoying blue skies, sunshine, and incredibly warm temperatures (it was 63º yesterday!).  We just hope it stays like this and doesn't get any warmer!

We have had an exciting past couple months, which have kept us from writing more often.  Laura has stepped into a few temp roles (she starts a new one on Tuesday), Chris has been working hard to submit for his first-year assessment (he submitted on 18 May), and we have had family and friends visit!  In April, Laura's parents visited for a week on either side of Easter.  We got to show them Cambridge (and tour a good number of the colleges!) as well as take some trips outside of the city (including the historic Peterborough Cathedral and the east coast!) Earlier this month, David, Chris's brother, was able to visit for a day (he was nearby, visiting a church in a village 30 minutes north from us).  It was a very busy day, trying to take in as many sites as possible in just a few hours, but we'd like to think we gave him a true Cambridge experience.  Lastly, two of our friends from Houston, Eric and Beth Young, stopped by for a weekend on their way back home from a European vacation.  We took them punting (our first time!) and learned that it is a little harder than it looks!

Now that Summer is more-or-less here, it looks like things will be a bit more relaxed in the Fresch flat.  Laura's new temp job (for a department of the university!) starts on Tuesday and continues at least through September!  Now that Chris has submitted for his first-year assessment, he is spending the summer preparing for the assessment itself and reading, reading, and reading some more (intentionally not writing!).

So far, we only have a few plans for the Summer months.  We will be going to the Outer Banks in North Carolina to see family in June, and we cannot wait for this!!  Seriously, it pretty much gets talked about every day in our home. :)  Apart from that, though, we don't have much else planned except for enjoying the cool summer and settling into more of a routine.  Chris may be going to 2-3 conferences in July and September (two in England, one in Germany) and he might be going to Houston for a bit in August depending on some other factors.  We are really looking forward to just spending some quality time with each other in England.

That's all there is to say for now.  We'll update as new things happen!

[freschfamily-blog]

We know we owe you an update, and it's coming soon (we hope!) but in the meantime, here are photos of the past few months. ~~> http://www.flickr.com/photos/lfresch/sets/

We are still catching up on adding photos, so it's not completely up to date yet. 

But, here's a sneak preview:

[freschfamily-blog]

British-isms

In our short time here, we are becoming accustomed to many phrases, words, and concepts that were not the norm in America, so we thought we'd share a few with you. Feel free to laugh at us and enjoy using these at home. :)

1. Instead of asking someone how they like or are enjoying their home/job/etc, we have found that the common phrase is "How are you finding your home/job/etc" or, slightly more confusing in the past tense, "How did you find your home/job/etc." We have both been caught off guard by the second question and started to explain how we went about locating and leasing our flat, for instance, before realizing the true nature of the question.

2. "Puddings" does not in any way imply the chocolate or other flavored substance often made by JELLO or sold in snack-packs. Here, it is a general term used for dessert. 

3. Additionally, popsicles are referred to as "ice lollies." 

4. The American first floor is considered the ground floor in England while the American second floor is considered the first floor in England (the first floor above the ground floor). So, while by the American definition we live on the third floor, by the England definition we only live on the second floor. Unfortunately we still have to go up the same amount of stairs. :)

5. Instead of using the words "call" or "mail" to contact someone by phone or by letter, the generally accepted terms are "ring" and "post". (Also, we have yet to hear the term "mom" used, instead it is "mum".) 

6. This is a weird thing to notice, but while we have seen "buy one get one free" and similar sales occasionally, the most common type of sale we've seen is the "3 for 2" sale. 

7. We have realized that if you want to throw a British person off their game while on the telephone, ask them how they're doing. Most people don't know how to deal with this question and find it quite an odd thing for you to ask. 

8. A follow up to number seven, however, is the British phrase, " You-al'right?" It's a common question upon initially meeting up with someone or a remark thrown out as you pass someone (whom you know) in the hall.  Don't be fooled, though, if a British person asks you this question, they are usually not actually asking "How are you?"  It's more or less an alternative to "Hi."

9. Contrary to popular American belief, "cheers" is often not a closing remark to be used in place of a goodbye, but rather an extra remark, as in "Cheers! Bye!" or "Cheers! Thanks!"

10. Following that, it is quite customary for Brits to end their phone conversations with several instances of progressively quieter "bye"s. As in "BYE, bye bye" all said in rather quick succession. Even grown men of the engineering profession have been known to do this. 

[freschfamily-blog]

"You are all winners! Don't let anyone tell you otherwise!"*

This is the story about how Chris and I are winners. As announced by The Civil Wars. 

First, if you don't know who The Civil Wars are, google "The Civil Wars Grammys" and find out. I'll wait here.

{For you lazy people, I'll summarize: The Civil Wars are a pretty new band who won two Grammys this year and have opened for Adele. They are sort of amazing. They have also been one of Chris's favourite bands for past year-ish and one of mine for the past...week and a half.} 

They are (were?) touring in England, but Chris has been sad because their shows were sold out. No The Civil Wars for us. 

Then he entered a drawing without telling me. Whatever, no big deal. No one actually wins those things.  

But then, he got an exciting email! He was among 18 people who won a pair of tickets to an intimate, exclusive The Civil Wars show in London. I would say that a 36-person audience is certainly intimate!

My first reaction (other than excitement for him), was to ask if any of his Cambridge friends liked The Civil Wars and wanted to go with him. I hadn't ever really listened to them, so outside of the thrill of winning, I wasn't really that enthused. He was sad that I wasn't interested and convinced me to go. I found a Tex-Mex place in London near our underground stop and suddenly I was so enthused about our outing. 

So, two Wednesdays ago, I met Chris at the Cambridge train station after work, and off we went for Tex-Mex in London. It was pretty authentic. They had chili-peppers on the walls, Tejano music through the speakers, and absolutely no strange psuedo-Mexican ingredients (as England "Mexican" food is so apt to have). It was a great night! The end. 

Just kidding. (Not about the great night, just about the end.) 

Soon we were on our way to Blacks in London Soho, an "exclusive club." (So exclusive that there was no sign for it on the street and we ended up walking past it at least twice before someone pointed us to the right place.) 

We walked inside and the poor door guy asked me if I was there for the civil partnership. I looked at him like he was from Mars while I tried to figure out what he was asking me. He then recovered his lines and asked me if I was there for The Civil Wars, which I did understand, and he pointed us to a door, behind which were steep stairs. And more steep stairs. And more steep stairs. (I would not want to walk up those in super tall heels while pregnant! Which I only mention because that's exactly what Joy Williams of The Civil Wars had to do. Unless she can fly, which might be a possibility considering her amazingness. I digress..)

We finally reached the top of the stairs which opened onto a small room filled with people, which led us into another small room, also filled with people. It's a good thing we got there when we did, because we grabbed pretty much the last seats in the small over-filled room. We looked around and took in the fact that we were approximately four or five feet from the "stage." In a room much smaller than an average American living room. (Or, almost exactly the size of an average British living room.) 

At this point, I started to feel a little guilty. There I was with front row, probably highly coveted, seats for a band I had only started listening to a week prior (for the sole intention of at least kind of knowing their music for this show). I didn't belong here. I didn't adore them like every other person in the room did. So, I sipped my drink and pretended I was as euphoric as everyone else as we waited for the band to arrive. 

And then they were there. And then they started singing. And I'm pretty sure they cast a spell on me, because within 10 minutes I definitely belonged there. I was just as mesmerized to watch and listen to them as anyone else in the room, perhaps more so because they were so completely new to me. They opened with "My Father's Father" and it was all uphill from there.

{Sorry for the poor quality! I was equipped with only an iPhone and Instagram.}

I don't know how to justly describe their live performance other than that it was probably the best musical experience I will ever have.

I've heard it said that the way Joy Williams and John Paul White collaborate on the spot is sort of like twin-speak, and I absolutely agree. John Paul would take the song in some new way and Joy would just pick it up and follow. It made the whole thing so much more intriguing. And Joy's voice. It sounds wonderful on their cd, but hearing her live just takes it to a whole new level that recordings just don't do justice to.  And her stage presence...so intriguing. Did I mention she was six months pregnant and in high heels and a GREAT non-maternity dress? 

After the show, we hung around for a few minutes hoping to maybe get a picture with them. That part didn't happen, BUT, Joy asked us where we were from (seeing as how we obviously weren't British..). And then it happened: Joy touched my shoulder and thanked me for coming.  Yes. That happened. I'm so glad I was wearing a cute jacket!

The whole experience was pretty amazing, and they definitely made me into a fan. I enjoyed all of their songs immensely, but for some reason my favorite song they performed was a cover of Michael Jackson's Billie Jean. (Weird, right?) Now, before you start thinking, "Okay, now I know what kind of music they play" stop right there. First, a confession: I'd never really heard or paid attention to the original version of this song, so the "first" version I ever heard was theirs. And it was spectacularly, hauntingly good. Then I listened to Michael's version and was absolutely shocked at the difference. SHOCKED. It's like it's not even the same song. 

Seriously, you need to listen to their version here. (Do it. Right now!) And then go buy their album. And, if you ever have the chance, do yourself an amazing favor and go see them live!

*The title is a quote from Joy Williams and John Paul White during the show when they were talking about how we were all there.

[freschfamily-blog]

A guy juggling knives while riding an 8-foot unicycle!

This is for real. We saw this guy last weekend in City Centre and I took this video! 

{Sorry it's so long, but I think you'll think it's worth the length!} 

[freschfamily-blog]

The Difference of 24 Hours

Yesterday, the forecast was for rain. 

I had to run some errands in town, so I had succumbed to the idea of not fixing my hair but rather wearing a hat, a raincoat, and some boots to get through my outing as quickly as possible. 

Then, I realized that the hat I was planning to wear had been intentionally left in Texas. 

Then, I looked out the window and realized that the rain had stopped, and, while still a little threatening, the sky held the promise of sun. 

So, I fixed my hair and prepared to leave, grabbing the rain coat just in case. As you'll soon see, Cambridge weather can be unpredictable. 

The rest of the day was GORGEOUS. Case in point:

Beautiful, right? I mean, rain? What rain? Chris and I ate lunch outside and enjoyed the wonderful mid-50s weather. 

The forecast for today was also for rain, but we were more than a little skeptical after how Saturday turned out. Unfortunately, however, the forecast was right. It's been raining all day.

We didn't pay much attention to it, until suddenly, about 15 minutes ago, Chris looked out the window and realized: It's snowing! It's very wet and won't stick like before, since it's 37 degrees outside, but regardless - it's snow! Who knew that snow could be so immediately following such a gloriously "spring" day?

<3