Menu Planning

On Friday, Chris travelled to Durham to pick up our things which had been in storage there for the past 15 months. While I am excited to have towels, our TV and my winter coat among a ton of other things, it is my now almost complete kitchen that I was really waiting for. I don't consider myself an amazing cook - I like to follow recipes, I don't do a ton of experimenting and I most definitely would never win a quick fire challenge on Top Chef since I need a few hours every Sunday afternoon to make my weekly meal plan. Regardless of all these factors, I love to cook and find much enjoyment in deciding what to make, shopping for all of the ingredients and then of course the actual cooking (and eating!).

As I sat down today to work out what we will eat over the next week, I thought you all might find it interesting to see how we eat a little differently here. Plus, I am asked quite regularly about groceries and such that I thought I could post how much a week's worth of food cost once I buy everything. No promises that this will be a weekly blog entry but you never know.

Dinners

Monday - Shepherd's Pie and steamed green beans

Tuesday - Homemade chicken fingers, baked sweet potato fries and steamed zucchini

Wednesday - Italian Tortellini Soup and crusty bread

Thursday - Roasted Vegetable Penne

Friday - Bangers (Sausages) and Mash with steamed carrots

Saturday - Leftovers (C is out at a school thing)

Sunday - Meatloaf, rice and gravy and steamed broccoli 

Lunches

Vegetable Pasta Salad (two days)

Tuna Salad Sandwiches

Black Bean Quesadillas

Vegetable English Muffin Pizzas

Saturday - Turkey Panini Sandwiches and homemade baked tator tots

Sunday - Hot dogs and chips

Breakfasts

Pancakes, Oatmeal, Eggs and Toast, Yogurt with homemade granola and fruit

Sunday - Sausage Gravy and Biscuits

Snacks

Granola, Pumpkin Bread, Hummus and Vegetable Sticks, Fruit Dip and Apples

So, that is the plan for the week. We will see how much it is going to cost me tomorrow morning. We do know that cooking/eating at home is a lot cheaper than eating out. I learned in Durham that eating at home is so much more enjoyable when you are eating food that is delicious. I can't wait for our first week of real cooking/eating and I think Chris and Madeline are excited too. 

Bon appetite! 

We Made It!

After a week of being without internet or phone it is amazing how lost you feel! The first few days were nice and tranquil but I soon needed to be connected to the world again. We have now been in Oxford almost exactly one week and the words that come to mind when describing the last 7 days are: fun, frantic, stressful, beautiful, challenging, exciting, comforting and a little intimidating. In so many ways it is like we never left and yet it is painfully obvious that we still have a lot to remember, relearn and see for the first time. It does very much feel like home - just a home that you have been away from for awhile.

The plane ride was challenging to say the least since Madeline decided she no longer wanted to have anything to do with her parents, her food, her toys or really anything except kicking the poor man's seat in front of us. For a child who is normally quite behaved she was in rare form. Unfortunately, our flight was delayed by 3 hours which meant we missed dinner time and bedtime so can you really blame the 2 year old for being uncomfortable, tired and hungry?  Thankfully, she fell asleep about 2.5 hours into the flight and slept until we landed. I think everyone around us was grateful!

Previous to leaving, there were a number of points in the trip which Chris and I were a little concerned about given the 11 bags and toddler we were toting around but at each point God put someone in our path to help us. A porter brought a huge metal cage to pick up all of our luggage and transport us through the airport to the parking deck, he then walked Chris to the rental car desk and waited until we were ready to load our luggage into the trunk (and the sides, and the floors, and my lap). Prior to receiving our luggage we were ushered to the front of the customs line straight through which meant we avoided about a 2 hour wait. God bless the woman who saw us and took pity on our tired selves - she must be a mom!

The drive to Oxford takes about an hour and a half and thanks to Chris' superb driving skills we arrived without incident. Seriously, he is fantastic at driving here and didn't even flinch when his navigator fell asleep mid-sentence! Our apartment is in a little village just outside of Oxford city centre and although the building itself leaves a little bit to be desired the apartment is quite nice and roomy. Once we get some pictures up and rugs down on the laminate wood floors it will be much better! Everything we need is pretty much within walking distance and most certainly within reasonable distance on one of the many buses which run nearby regularly. Chris does have quite a ways to go to the Faculty of Music where he spends most of his time. We are looking to buy a bike to make it easier (and cheaper!) for him.

No pictures yet as we left the camera cord in Atlanta! Thankfully, we can buy a replacement on Amazon and should have pictures up in the next few days. I guess to sum it up - the city is beautiful, the University will leave you speechless, Madeline has already managed to win over most of the locals and Chris and I are just so grateful to be here amongst it all.

With much love,
A

Feeing a little sentimental

5 weeks from today we will be standing in our new apartment in Oxford and I am starting to feel a little nervous. There is so much to think about, so many people to see (far too many that we haven't seen at all!), so much to organize and subsequently pack and I of course still have all of the daily tasks like cooking and cleaning.  As excited as I am to be back in England, I am pretty much choosing to ignore how much I know I am going to miss my family.  This past year in Atlanta has been one of the hardest of my life and there have been many many times when I have questioned our decision to come home.  The one thing that I have never questioned is how much I have loved being within reasonable driving distance to my family.  Although I haven't seen them as often as I would have liked, I have had the opportunity to save up many memories that I will always cherish.

In order to keep myself from turning into a blubbering mess, I will end with simply saying:

Dad, Mom, April, Austin and Anslee...

thank you for going out of your way to spend time with us this past year,
thank you for loving Madeline unconditionally and investing in her little life,
thank you for your encouragement, friendship and laughter,
thank you for the hugs,
thank you for promising that you will come to England,
thank you for reminding me that we are not perfect but God's plan is and we can trust in that.

I love you,
A

New Beginnings...

Once again we are setting off on a new adventure.  Chris has been accepted into the Doctorate of Philosophy program at Oxford University (yes, in England!) and begins his course on 4 October.  He will be studying Music Composition and the degree normally takes 3 to 3 1/2 years.  Plenty of time for everyone to come visit!

We are very excited to be returning to England after being in Atlanta for the past 13 months.  It has been a great time to see family and friends but has unfortunately not been the best time for us professionally or financially.  We chose quite a time to move back and look for a teaching job!!  We have made it work and are extremely grateful to our families for their support.  Now it is time for a new chapter and we believe God has ordained every step we are taking.  We do ask for your prayers as this a big step of faith and as always we have no idea what is in store for us.  

All the details are taking shape and we are scheduled to fly into Gatwick on 29 September at 7:00am!  I am a little apprehensive about a 9 hour flight with an almost 2 year old but hopefully as it is a night flight she will sleep for the majority.  One can hope!  :)  We will be living in university family flats again which wasn't our first choice but did make the most sense seeing as we don't know the area at all.  The plan is to find a house to rent once we are more settled and can see them in person.  

I thought I would post a few pictures of Madeline from last weekend.  She is growing up so fast and we see lots of personality!  I am amazed every day by her sweet spirit.

She loves flowers!

Where are my pants?!

Cousin Brody is so much fun!

Introducing Madeline Elizabeth!

Madeline Elizabeth made her debut on November 10 at 10:25am! I had to have a scheduled c-section since was breech and refused to turn when the doctors tried. The c-section was textbook perfect and although she was a little stubborn about coming out once she did she made her presence known. We stayed in the hospital for two days before coming home on the 12th. Our midwives and nurses were amazing and although none of them will ever read this I just want to say how grateful I am for the excellent care both Madeline and I received.

Chris is completely in love with his little girl and is a natural when it comes to caring for her. My mom is staying with us for 3 weeks (yeah!!) to help since Chris is still in the middle of his MA and has a lot going on right now. I will post pictures of Maddie's first few days in the next post.

24 weeks and counting...

24 weeks! It is so hard to believe that we only have 16 weeks to go. Sometimes it feels like this pregnancy is taking forever and other times I can't believe how quickly it is flying by. A lot has happened since I last wrote on here.

First, Chris completed his programme at the end of June and had an amazing graduation ceremony at the Cathedral here in Durham. We had 6 of his family members visit us (spread out over a few weeks!) and we had an amzing time visiting different parts of England with them. Second, we found out that the baby is a GIRL! We were very shocked as we really thought the baby was a boy so when the nurse said girl we both gasped. We didn't have a preference at all but for some reason were convinced it was a boy. Now we are looking at all things pretty and pink and having a great time. Chris has gone a little overboard buying things for "his little girl" and I am thinking this is not a good sign of things to come! Third, I am flying home to Altanta for a few weeks courtesy of my fabulous dad (dads and daughters?!) and am so excited to be home in the sun and see everyone. Chris will be staying in England and this is the first time I have flown internationally by myself so hopefully everything will go smoothly. When I get back to Durham I will only have 2 1/2 months before my maternity leave starts!!

At our last midwife appointment we took a digital recorder and recorded the baby's heartbeat. Towards the end you can hear a couple of louder thumps and that is her kicking (you can also hear the midwife talking in the background). Enjoy!

Baby's Heartbeat

Yesterday was such an amazing day! At our midwife appointment we were able to hear the baby's heartbeat loud and strong - it was completely unbelievable! While the midwife was listening we kept hearing a loud thump that was obviously not the heartbeat and the midwife said the thump was the baby kicking. S/He was being so active!

Everything else checked out great and everyone is looking perfectly healthy for which we are extremely grateful. Next step is another ultrasound on the 26th!

Love to you all!
A

Pregnancy Update & Picture

Hi! I thought it was about time to give everyone an update on Baby Ferebee. Although we don't have any new pictures (next ultrasound on June 26!) we definitely think s/he is growing as I am certainly growing! Here is a picture from about 10 days ago (16 weeks) - this was taken at night so I am a little bigger here then I am normally during the day:

I am feeling really great overall and am very very glad to have my appetite back finally. The only problem is now I desperately want Taco Bell, LaBotona and Chick-fil-A. We were watching Friends the other night and Joey was eating a sub sandwich with turkey and roast beef and all that night I dreamt about a Publix sub!

We just had Paul and Katy (Cahill) visiting with us for about 4 days and had an absolutely awesome time. We spent an afternoon and evening in Newcastle with Jonathan and Sissy (Massie) and another day in York which was fantastic. Cheryl (Chris's mom) and Memaw, (Chris's grandmother) fly in on the 19th and among other things they are taking us to London for a few days before Chris's graduation on the 27th. Jim (Chris's dad), Debbie (Jim's wife), Brandon (Chris's brother) and Lindsey (Brandon's girlfriend) are also flying for Chris's graduation so we are going to have an awesome time with everyone in Durham!

That is all the big news from the bright lights of Durham. Hope everyone is enjoying the 90 degree weather!! :)

Love to you all,
Amber

Baby's First Picture

Well, here it is - the first official picture of the baby! We had an ultrasound on Wednesday and the baby is growing and very active. We got to see him/her moving around a lot and the nurse said the heartbeat was strong. Our next appointment is with the midwife on June 5 and then it looks like we will have another ultrasound sometime the last week of June when we should be able to find out the gender as long as the baby cooperates.

Please keep us in your prayers that all remain healthy and growing. More updates to come soon. :)

Love from Chris, Amber and the lime!

BIG NEWS!!!

Well, I get the feeling that this news might actually be a little late and that everyone who actually reads the blog probably already knows but just in case - we're going to have a baby! We are extremely excited and a bit overwhelmed! We are currently at 9 weeks and the due date is set for November 12 - just in time for us to make our annual trip home for Christmas with a new little person. So far outside of having the normal sickness and such everything is fine. Although it is still early the midwife seems to think everything is progressing well. We have another appointment this Friday to check on things and then the big ultrasound on April 30th when we can finally have a picture.

We just ask that everyone continue to keep us (all 3!) in your prayers as this is obviously still a very sensitive time in the pregnancy.

We love you and can't wait to have pictures to post here!

C, A and someone who is currently the size of a green olive. :)

3 Days To Go!!

Things are so busy here that I don't have much time to write but I just wanted to add to the countdown! Yesterday was both my last day at work and Chris's last day of the term so we are now busily preparing everything to head to Atlanta on Sunday. Those of you who know me well know that I wouldn't exactly win an award for being the best airplane passenger so I do ask for all of your thoughts and prayers for me but espesially for Chris who has to put up with me on the plane! We are so excited to be in Altanta and can't wait to see everyone soon.

Love,
Amber

The Official Countdown Begins...2 1/2 Weeks

Only 17 days until we are in the land of SUVs, fast food, GAP, 5 lane highways and country music and I CAN NOT wait! Of course we are so excited to see our friends and family (even though I have heard rumors that the only reason I come home is for Taco Bell I can assure they aren't true - but you will certainly score extra points if you suggest we meet up to eat and talk!) - it has been WAY too long. We have finished most of the Christmas shopping we planned to do in Durham and only have a couple of things to pick up in Atlanta once we are there. This weekend is the annual Christmas market in Durham and we absolutely loved last year and have been waiting for almost a month!

Chris is finishing up his school assignments and things for this term and those are all going well. It looks like he won't have to take any significant work to Atlanta and will be able to really enjoy himself while we are there. I have been told by my boss that no matter what she won't email or call me while I am gone and will try to figure things out for herself so I will be free as well! We may not know what to do with ourselves!

We can't wait to see everyone soon!

Love,
Amber

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Ev'rywhere you go;

Take a look in the five and ten glistening once again

With candy canes and silver lanes aglow.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Toys in ev'ry store

But the prettiest sight to see is the holly that will be

On your own front door.

The Ferebee Christmas Carol play list has now been working overtime at our house! We are so ready for Christmas and can't wait to be home and see everyone. We have put up our Christmas tree (and I think it looks really nice - good job, babe!) and were getting ready to take some more pictures since we have added more ornaments since these were taken and the lights blew! Once the new lights are on I will add some updated pictures.

The beginning...that is a VERY small tree!

Lights are looking good!

The finished project. Well not quite finished as we have since added some ornaments with color but you get the idea!

Update

Good afternoon, all! I hope those of you in GA are praying for rain becuase it certainly sounds like you need it!!

Things here continue to be busy. Chris is working hard to finish a number of projects before Christmas and the Business School is keeping me jumping as usual. It has turned extremely cold just in the last week and this morning the wind was freezing!

We are looking forward to Thanksgiving next week. I have taken the day off so we can have a "proper" meal with all of the trimmings. On Saturday we are getting together with Jonathan and Sissy Massie (American friends who live in Newcastle) for a second meal which will be a really good time as well. I will try to post pictures afterwards.

I guess that is it for now - just 31/2 weeks to go until we land in the big ATL!

Love,
Amber

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHRIS!!!!

HAPPY 25th BIRTHDAY, CHRIS! I took today off from work to spend with Chris on his birthday around his classes and then made him his favorite dinner - ceasar salad, fettuccine alfredo with grilled shrimp, garlic bread and chocolate molten cake with vanilla ice cream. YUMMY!! He has had a great day even though there has been a touch of what we are calling his quarter-life crisis! :)

On another note this weekend we got to hang out with Kristen (my friend from GSU and a bridesmaid in our wedding) here in Durham - she is in England for a week to visit a friend that lives in Manchester and they came to see us for 2 days. It was great!!!! I haven't seen Kristen since Christmas and it was so awesome to hang out even if just for a short time. I love you!

So we have had an eventful weekend between Kristen and David being here and Chris's birthday and it has been great! I just want to say Happy Birthday to my sweetheart - I love you, babe! :)

This Weekend

In an attempt to continue with the blogging I have decided that instead of waiting for something interesting to happen I will simply bore you all with the minute details of our lives. So here we go! :)

This weekend we had a great weekend!! First off I got to meet up with our friends Jonathan and Sissy (Sissy used to be Walters from FBA - most of you guys know her) who now live in Newcastle about 15 minutes from us by train. Anyway, Jonathan had to come to Durham for a race and Chris had a bunch of school stuff to do so Sissy and I got to hang out almost the whole day. We had a great time! We had lunch and did a bunch of shopping (groceries and toilet paper but still fun!) and then of course finished the day with coffee. It was so awesome to have someone here that you can talk to and know you are experiencing similar feelings and just life in general.

On Saturday night I baked banana nut bread but with no nuts because I didn't have any and it turned out so yummy! I am having a piece right now at work with coffee and it is even better then it was on Saturday. I am posting the link on here just in case anyone else wants to try it. It has sour cream in it which at first I thought was kind of weird but it makes the bread so moist that I now understand! http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Janets-Rich-Banana-Bread/Detail.aspx?src=etaf

When Jim and Debbie (Chris's dad and step-mom) were here they bought us a really cool gadget for the kitchen - a stove top cast iron grill. It weighs a ton and sits on top of one of our burners and works almost as well as a grill on your back porch. We have grilled chicken a couple of times and it has been really good so last night I did pork chops and they were delicious!! They were all fat (not with fat but with meat) and cooked up so good with an apple and brown sugar glaze. Here is the recipe in case anyone is interested - http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Grilled-Brown-Sugar-Pork-Chops/Detail.aspx?src=etaf

Now it is Monday and we are back to work/school. We fly out for Atlanta in 8 weeks!!! My fabulous friend Kristen (bridesmaid at the wedding for those of you who were there) is flying to England on Saturday for a bunch of different reasons but one is to see me and I can't wait! We will only get to hang out for a day or so because I have to work but I can't wait to even have that little bit of time with her this weekend!

Then Monday (22nd) is Chris's 25th birthday! What an old man! :) I tell him all the time that I am still almost 8 months away from being 25 and he hates it! On the upside what a great place and time to have a 25th birthday and I think he is rather lucky.

Better run for now - my 15 minute coffee and blog break are just about up. Hope everyone is well.

Love,
Amberly

A New Beginning...

Well, I have been inspired to return to the world of blogging! Things here have settled down somewhat and I feel just awful that it has been 6 months since I even wrote on here!!! We will consider this my early New Year's resolution - maybe call it my October resolution.

Where to begin after a 6 months hiatus? Hmm...

Chris just started his final year of study last Thursday and is really excited about being so close to the finish line. Plus, he is taking some very cool classes with a few world-renowned professors. Since he had the summer off he was able to go to the States for a couple of weeks in August - he spent some time in Atlanta with family and friends there, then went to Michigan for Nitchie's wedding (Yeah, congrats Nithcie and Michelle!) and was even able to spend some time with our friends Mike and Lisa who are now back in Michigan as well (Mike completed his Master's in July and they moved back to the Michigan but are hopefully headed to DC soon).

While Chris was in the US I had a visitor! My MOM!! She was our first official family visitor to come and see Durham and the apartment and just experience life here. It was awesome! I hadn't seen any of my family in 8 months and as much as I would have LOVED for them all to come (which obviously wasn't possible) it was so amazing to have my mom! We went shopping and ate at all the little cafes in Durham, we even went to see a movie and spent 2 days in Edinburgh before she flew out. It went by too fast but was really great.

A week after my mom flew back to Altanta Chris was back in Durham and we were getting ready to have his dad, Jim and step-mom, Debbie come for a visit. They were here for 10 days and we had an awesome time. They got to really experience our lives in Durham plus we went to the Lake District for 2 days and stayed at the most amazing little B&B there. I will try to upload some pictures from home later on. It has been so wonderful to have so much family here recently and we are always ready for visitors so if you want to come by just give us a call!

We have bought our tickets back to the US for Christmas!!! We will be in Altanta Dec 16 - Jan 6 - 3 whole weeks! We are going to try and see everyone and do everything that we can so if you have any ideas or want to get together just send me an email.

About 2 weeks ago we celebrated our 1 year anniversary of moving to England! Both Chris and I are still in wonder on almost a daily basis that we actually live here and have had the opportunity to build our lives here. God has been so good to give us this opportunity and allowed us to really settle in with friends and my job and a great little apartment to live in and everything that is Durham from our church to the people to the market - we are just grateful for every part of it. I know that one day we will look back on this and wonder at how we ever survived but more importantly how we could have ever imagined our lives without this time. Thank you to everyone who has supported us this far and please continue to think of us as we are now looking forward to the next step.

Speaking of the next step - we are looking at a number of schools for Chris to go to for a Master's programme. This would mean we would probably move next summer in late July or so (as Durham is one of the options we may not move at all!). Chris's graduation is at the end of June and we could stay in our apartment until the beginning of September if we wanted to. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we now move on to making decisions about schools, programmes and many other things.

After not writing for so long I think I have now written our longest post yet! Now the question is - will anyone read it? :)

Love,
Amber

Introducing Zeke!

Here is the newest addition to the Hagan family...Zeke! My dad has ALWAYS wanted a Labrador and finally he has one. Dad and Austin picked Zeke out a few weeks ago and he has grown even more since these pictures were taken. I think he is going to be pretty big. I can't wait to meet him!

Love,
A.

Americus Tornado Pictures

My Aunt Dawn who lives in Americus sent me these pictures of the damage the tornado caused. My grandparents (on Mom's side), Aunt Dawn, Uncle Mike and their 2 boys live in Americus and although their homes didn't receive any substantial damage Uncle Mike's businesses and Papa's church did. Papa's church is being used as center for the Red Cross and the GBC as it is quite a large building and didn't receive any structural damage. Please continue to pray for everyone living in the community as we are VERY fortunate that our family is safe but many people were not so fortunate.

You can see here where all of the trees were chopped down by the tornado. This road used to be lined with huge pine trees.

I think this is the Winn-Dixie shopping center that was destroyed.

At first I thought this was FBC Americus but the more I look at it the more I think I might be wrong. Either way you can see where the steeple of the church was taken off by the tornado.

This I believe is Sumter Regional Hospital in the middle of Americus. You can see where it looks like all of the windows were blown out.

I don't know whose house this is.

To me this looks like another shopping center that is completely destroyed. I think it is the other side if the Winn-Dixie parking lot and if I am reading the sign right it is where the Cato Women's store was. My Uncle Mike owns a gym near here but I am not sure how much damage it took.

Grocery Shopping

In light of the fact that I have promised myself that I would post on here at least once a week I thought I would share my grocery shopping experience yesterday. I typically shop once a week for most of what we need and during the week Chris will pick up more perishable items for me. We like to shop at this small vegetable / fruit stand owned by a family of local farmers - the produce is so good! Yesterday I picked up the following - 4 bananas, 2 med. white onions, 4 carrots, 2 heads of broccoli (enough for 3 meals), 2 large lemons - and we only paid 2 pounds = $4.00! On Wednesday Chris will pick up some other fruit, possibly apples or strawberries or more bananas and also milk and bread to last us until next Saturday.

You would think this is a good start to my grocery experience but it started going downhill fast! After leaving Robinsons (the produce shop) where you can only pay in cash I headed to Waitrose (the English version of Publix). Here we usually buy canned goods, meats, sauces, frozen things, etc. After about 45 minutes and with a pretty full cart I headed to the que (line). After all of my groceries had been bagged and ready to go I slid our UK bank card through the machine and proceeded to completely forget our pin code and effectively embarrass myself. Of course this one Saturday we had decided that I would shop by myself while Chris went to the library so he was nowhere around to help me out. The pin codes here are set by the bank and you have no control over what it is and can't change it and I can never remember it. Needless to say I went blank and didn't have any cash so I had to leave our groceries and send Chris back an hour later with the correct pin to pay and pick up the groceries. I was SO embarrassed!!!

From now on Chris will either go with me or send me with cash!! Other than the grocery fiasco this weekend has been pretty normal. Many of you will probably already know about the tornado that hit Americus, GA where my grandparents and aunt, uncle and cousins live. Although they are okay and their homes are okay so many other parts of Americus are destroyed and many people from Papa's church were affected. If you could keep the whole town and especially my family in your prayers in the coming weeks it would mean a lot to me. Thank you.

Love,
A.