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