We're Home

For all or any of you still reading out there, we are home.

Living abroad was amazing, we covered 10 counties in 4 months, as well as extended site seeing in London. We will miss the United Kingdom, driving on the wrong side of the road and terms like Cheers instead of thank you...but home is in the United States with our families.

For everyone that read, commented and kept in touch with us on a regular basis while we were in London, we cannot thank you enough for being our anchors to home and raising our spirits when we missed your smiling faces.

Wishing you a very Happy New Year

Jen and Joel

Let it Snow!

All week snow has been in the forecast and each day we have awakened to chilly temperatures and a few times rain. However this morning we woke up, and when we checked Facebook our friends were stating that there was snow. We bundled up and went outside to see snow falling on our street. It was so quiet and peaceful. It snowed harder as the day went on, and more is expected for this week. Never seen a white winter, and it's lovely, in bits and pieces.

Here is a picture a friend captured today of the snow, as I couldnt quite catch it on my camera, although I certainly tried.



Here's what the BBC has to say

BIG FREEZE FOR UK

Weather in the UK comes mostly from the Atlantic, bringing relatively warm, moist air. This week the air is coming from the east, where it has been sitting over very cold, dry land in continental Europe.

Eastern England showing feels like temperatures for Thursday

The brisk and dry easterly wind this week will make the temperatures feel quite different. For example an east coast day time maximum of 2C may actually feel like -2C once the wind chill effect has been accounted for.

As the cold, dry air from Russia travels over the relatively warm waters of the North Sea it will pick up some moisture, which will then condense as it hits the cold land of the UK. This will mean snow! Daytime temperatures will not rise much above freezing.

Last days of London

Hi Everyone

We have 8 days of London left, we have 6 nights of Hanukkah, Joel has 3 finals...and a partridge in a pear tree.

We are packing up our place to come home and looking forward to seeing everyone. In the last days we plan on doing some shopping and visiting a few last minutes spots we haven't had a chance to see yet.

There is snow expected this week, its COLD to say the least. We are really experiencing the "seasons" here...I rather like the normalcy of LA better.

Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas

Jen and Joel

Winter Wonderland

A group of us decided to walk around Winter Wonderland last week to see the sites:

Hyde Park Winter Wonderland is 20 acres. There is an Ice Skating Rink, 95.8 Capital FM’s Giant Wheel and ever growing German Christmas Market.

There are plenty attractions, including the Power Tower, a 66m drop ride, a massive new Christmas Rollercoaster, the Black Hole ride - which twists and turns at breakneck speed in the pitch dark, a dinosaur-inspired Ice Monster which is experienced from the inside out, a Xmas Pirates Adventure.

Father Christmas now resides in his very own Santa Land circled by the popular Santa Land Express and containing lots of rides & games for the little ones.

Breakfast, Rain, London

Hi Everyone,

Just thought I would send a quick update. Nothing much has been going on as it has rained off and on for about 2 weeks now. Joel is in final crunch time mode studying and studying.

Today Caleb (another student at Joel's school) and I hosted a breakfast for all of the law school students. It was so much fun to really cook again. I made stuffed French toast with cream cheese filling, macerated raspberries and apple compote on the side. Caleb made Eggs Benedict with turkey, avocado and and homemade hollandaise quite a feet. We each cooked in our own kitchens and then hand carried everything over to the Pepperdine campus. Everyone brought juice and another friend Nicole brought fruit salad. It was a great morning!



Alright family and friends just 16 more days until we are back!

Sending you lots of love

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving Family and Friends!

Joel and I missed everyone a lot...but we did get to celebrate a bit here. Our celebration officially started on Wednesday night when we went to see a play called the The War Horse.



It was very interesting an unlike any play we had ever seen before. The puppeteers working the horse were absolutely amazing.

Joel had to be in class all day and I had the traditional Thursday and Friday off. So Thursday morning I woke up early and made traditional stuffing (the kind my mom does at home) and put it in the oven. The house smelled like Thanksgiving all day which was nice. This is Joel Thanksgiving morning looking SUPER cute with his new haircut. (Sarah where were you when we needed you??)



Then we left to join the Pepperdine crowd for a traditional dinner in Imperical College (just across the street from the Pepperdine campus). We had a feast. We spent the evening chatting with friends and watching football on the big screen. After dinner a few friends came back and enjoyed an evening of hookah on our patio.















Friday we set off early with the Pepperdine crowd again, this time for a day trip to Windsor. Apparently the Queen really feels the most at home at Windsor and treats Buckingham Palace like an office. Before getting to Windsor we were taken to a JFK memorial. London gifted the US land to use as a memorial. There is a step for every year of JFK's life leading to a stone plaque in his honor. In the same area we also got to see where the Magna Carta was signed! Then we boarded the coach (not called a bus in London) and headed to Windsor. Windsor is both a town and the castle. We toured the castle starting with the Queen's doll house (which is a miniature of Windsor!) you cant take pictures but it was so amazing we did buy the souvenir book so we can share it will everyone when we get back. Next we toured the rooms of the castle, the most impressive being the Hall of Battle (where all the weapons are displayed so an enemy entering would be humbled by the power of the Queen). Other than that I really like Buckingham Palace and Versailles as far as castles go better. We then walked around the town and stumbled upon a place the served Turkey, stuffing and cranberry sandwiches (which was amazing since we were all a bit bummed that we would not get these this year) and the best part was they had no idea that it was the day after Thanksgiving (they always have it on their menu).

Here is Joel enjoying his sandwich.



Saturday and Sunday have been mostly spent around the house as it is pouring down rain and Joel is studying for finals! Tomorrow we may venture out to see Tower of London (which houses the crown jewels!)

See you all in 3 weeks from tomorrow!

Christmas World at Harrods

Last night Joel came home and said we should go to Harrods and pick our annual Christmas ornament. I thought we would find ornaments in the Harrods gift shop downstairs seperate and small compared to the rest of the department store. Just to make sure we asked where we would find ornaments, and were instructed to Christmas World on the second floor...Harrods does not disappoint.



This Christmas, Harrods is celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Wizard of Oz and Christmas World is divided into special areas, each echoing different themes from the film.

Peruse 2,000 decorations and festive gifts, including a selection paying homage to the Yellow Brick Road, Ruby Slippers, Emerald City and Somewhere over the Rainbow, plus traditional décor.

Joel and I will be headed back with the camera to show you how amazing it truly is. Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukah.