Chickens and a new apron...

It was somewhat sunny when I got home today and so I thought it would be a good opportunity to take some photos of the chickens.

Initially they were confused and uncooperative.

Then they began to show an interest in the camera.

Then everyone wanted a close up! Chicken glamor shots!

My roommate got a new apron and I love it. I wore it all afternoon. Here it is. I forgot to smile.

Smile.

Flat Stanley, Vol. I...

Hi, Logan!

I took Flat Stanley with me today to university. He has been sitting on my desk since we got back and it seemed like he was getting bored of watching me do homework all day. So, today we went out.

We took one of these to school. I wanted to take a picture, but, um...Stanley was too shy.

After I was done at school Stanley and I went across the road to this place...

This is the British Museum! The British Museum has been on this spot since 1759, but this building was built in 1857. This is one of my favorite places to go, and since it is right across the street from my university I can go whenever I like!

When you go into the museum this is the first place you come to. It is called the Great Court. Look at the ceiling! It is always full of light and always very noisy!

The Museum is full of very, very old things, like this very, very old Egyptian statue! (Stanley always stands too close to the camera, that's why his face is blurry- sorry!)

This lion is from 860 BC! That is REALLY old!

This is one of my favorite rooms in the Museum.

And here's Stanley again!

Okay, that's all for now. Stanley and I bought you a postcard from the Museum so he will travel to Canada with it very soon!

Love, Auntie.

More New Years photos...

I'd like to title this series:

"Happy Happy Happy Suspicious Sad Happy."

(Alternatively titled, "My face is round and Brenda's is not.")

Happy happy

Happy suspicious

Sad happy

Home...

"You can go through life and make new friends every year--every month practically--but there was never any substitute for those friendships of childhood that survive into adult years. Those are the ones in which we are bound to one another with hoops of steel."

-Alexander McCall Smith-

(Photos from my trip back to Canada for Christmas and New Years. I apologize for the general blurriness- I'm still sorting out how to use my new camera!)

Brenda, with the entirety of her army relegated to Iceland, carefully considers her next move.

Pictionary masters, reunited at last.

Judging by the expressions, this is the point in the game when Brenda was trying in vain to get her team to guess the words "Bugs Bunny."

Ramie waits eagerly for her beloved husband to mess up so she can use the buzzer.

Matt waits eagerly to return the favor to his lovely wife.

I set up the auto timer on my camera in order to capture us toasting the New Year when the clock struck midnight. Unfortunately, I didn't check the angle. Hence, we only have a picture of Clayton toasting in the New Year.

Attempt #2: Happy (fake) New Year!

Cracking out the vintage Super Nintendo for old times sake.

Me and a portion of the E family.

Catching up with friends from my mom's group (haha, true story).

Christmas...

Seeing as my housemates and I will all be dispersing for the Christmas holiday, we decided to declare last weekend "Christmas Tree Day" in our home. I don't have any pictures of the tree, but hopefully these shots will satisfy those eager for some photographic evidence of my life (i.e, mom).

Here we are enjoying our Christmas Tree Day brunch. Note the festive Christmas crackers and crowns. One housemate is missing from this photos, but I'm sure he'll show up on here eventually.

I included this shot to prove that I was actually there. I didn't Photoshop myself into this one, I promise.

Festive, London-esque Christmas Tree Day centerpiece.

After brunch we went to get a Christmas tree from a home supply store. I don't have any photos of this leg of the day. This is unfortunate, because it was slightly hilarious.

We were a bit short on ornaments, so we decided to make birds. I was borderline obsessed with bird Christmas tree ornaments last year in Mozambique. Apparently that's carried over a bit.

Housemate L takes her turn.

Clearly an emotional moment between crafter and craft.

She deserves a lot of applause for cutting out roughly 239, 494, 202 cookies.

This is only a fraction. Some we ate, some we hung on the tree. Some...are still sitting in Tupperware containers in the kitchen.

Last but not least, here are our beloved chickens (Annabel, Bruiser and Joan) in front of their coop! The third one is around there somewhere.

Our chickens used to live on a commercial egg farm and were a little lacking in feathers and high on post traumatic stress disorder when they came to live with us. However, they get prettier all the time and seem to love their new life in our back garden.

I finished up my first term at LSHTM on Friday. It was a great term, definitely the most challenged I've been academically (ever), but I do feel like I've learned a lot and I'm looking forward to jumping back in come January.

If the weather here cooperates, I should be back in Canada early next week for some rest and some time with a lot of my favorite people. Looking forward to seeing many of you very soon!

Beauty...

I'm still fresh out of pictures of my London life, but I wanted to post these photos.

I've been thinking a lot about Mozambique lately, partly because I've settled into some sort of routine here and have had time to stop and think about all the changes that have come about in my life in the past few months.

During one of my last weeks in Mozambique The General and I headed out to the school to meet up with the girls who were learning to sew. We had a lovely morning together. They were so excited to finish their first animals and so proud of their accomplishments. We laughed and chatted (as best we could!) and just had a wonderful hour. It turned out to be our last time together, and I hope that it is as good of a memory for them as it is for me.

Anyways, here are some photos from that morning of the girls and their creations. Aren't these girls beautiful? If you are of the praying persuasion, you can pray for them- that they will be safe and healthy and able to continue going to school.

London...

I have been in London for a few weeks now.

I love grad school! The course is proving to be fairly challenging, but I appreciate my school more every day and I am so excited to be in such a top notch learning environment. This term consists of core courses like statistics, health economics, etc, most of which I have never studied before. This has led to a steep learning curve in some areas, but I really enjoy it! One of the greatest surprises of my life is how much I like statistics. Honestly. Our class has just over 60 people in it (I think?) from all over the world and from such different backgrounds. Fantastic!

I also could not have asked for a better living situation. I am living in a house with five other people in northwest London. Having found this house on-line, I was a little anxious about what I was getting myself into but I have been pleasantly surprised over and over. We just adopted three chickens who live in a little coop we built in our backyard. We have failed somewhat in naming them and right now they are called 1, 2, and 3. We do intend to give them actual names at some point, for the record.

Some of you have asked for pictures. The unfortunate thing is that my camera was stolen during a mini- crime spree in Mozambique (along with my watch, my glasses, a necklace, some shampoo, etc, etc, anyways) so I'm not able to take photos right now. However, I hate to disappoint, so here is a little sampling to tide us all over until I get my hands on a camera again:

Here I am enjoying a slushie while wearing my bridesmaids dress in front of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine! You can't really see it in this photo, but all around the exterior of the school are bronze insects and animals like mosquitoes, ticks, and rats- all things that carry illnesses harmful to humans! I love my school. Even the art is health related!

Here I am (same day, obviously) in front of St. Paul's Cathedral!. Beautiful!

Lastly, here I am in front of an iconic red phone booth (this one is for you, Esther).

So, to summarize, I:

• Love school
• Love my house
• Love our chickens
• Love statistics
• Love living in London

However, I can't help but miss Three Hills and Edmonton and Mucombeze, etc. Come and visit!