Rainbow shoe pic

Oops forgot the pic of rainbow shoes.........


I will update these photos when I take better ones.....

Nice Weather = Happiness

Weather has been so great here and since I get up at the crack of dawn to row and it is lighter longer! I have optimal hours of sun-time.

Yes it is gray and can rain here but it just makes you sooooo happy when the weather is nice!!!


Here are some things that helped turn a potentially bad week into a great one.

1. Having great talks/emails with friends from home! So supportive and make me laugh!!!

2. Having great moments and talks with new friends here! I love that I am free to continue to be who I am which is very honest and needs to talk things out! I also am happy to see that I am more venerable here and ask for help more.....I have always need to work on this but put myself in just a "Rock- Role" that it is nice to have a clean slate and add tiny moments of delicacy.

3. Weather!!!! Yeah!!!



4. Getting flowers from someone because they enjoy your company and who you are! So sweet and a lovely surprise! Also Love my window box!!!


5. Joining my College's punt club (cool boats with poles here). I can now take them out whenever and also go Night punting….. I went with SAJF my partner in crime and he punted me all around….bless him. He is a really good punter and my arm was really hurt then, I made a picnic (something that I am good at) to help earn my keep!


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punt_%28boat%29#Punting_in_Cambridge

6. Wearing my happy shoes….see photo. Like having rainbows on your feet or as I like to call them “Care Bear Stared Shoes”!!!

7. Having everyone know me around here. This cracks me up and freaks anyone I am walking with out!!! I walk down the street and everyone is shouting “Hi Reb”! I love going into pubs, restaurants and coffee shops with a warm greeting and not needing to tell them what I want because they know! Every once and a while they check to make sure I don’t want to try something new….but folks…why change perfection?

Oh Oh Oh Ophelia..........

Ophelia moments........









sometimes you just can't even muster up a sigh.........

ah.....boys who love boys who love boys......

I think that my favorite men to bond with and hang out with and lose myself in great deep long conversation with....will always be with Men who love........Men!

Yes that is true! I think back to some of my most treasured friendships(male) and now forward to a new deep friendship that will be one of the greatest companionships a girl-moving-far-from-her-home can have over the next few years living abroad..... and what do we have in common.....we both like boys!



My Wonderwoman-ness continues on......

I really do believe that you love the person not the gender of a person.

Ode to Orangina

Thank you France for making Orangina....(which is currently bottled by Coca-Cola).

Orangina is one of my most favorite things!!!!!! Orangina is sooooo wonderful and my happy-place in a can or bottle!!!

I just got a fresh shipment in from France (thanks to SAJF) and a new flavor to try (well new to me).....In France they have lots of different flavors and Diet!!!! They also have it available in liter form. WOW!!

My love for Orangina stems from being a little girl and admiring the funny shaped bottles. My brother loved it ....and because I looked up and wanted to be like big brother I tried it and LOVED IT!!! It became this drink that mom would buy as a treat for us when she would find it and remember!

It has been a comfort and calming friend throughout the years and trying times!
I guess I am a bit of an addict....it is not that I drink it all the time....but if I want it and can't find it.....@#$#@&*&&@#$@!!!




When befriending a fellow Orangina lover I realized my unusual love/need...... when I could list in detail the places/locations for him to buy Orangina. .....Yeah folks...that information was a conversation stopper as everyone in the room just started at me and then looked down at their feet.

Leaving me looking crazy and saying, "What?" "Hey look I am totally normal!" "Whatever...like you are all perfect." ....Oh Orangina...I love you!

Back Log Blog #18

Back Log Blog #18

Since I first watched the movie Sixteen Candles.....many many moons ago I loved that last song during my favorite part ----of the First Kiss over the Birthday Cake---“Make a wish Samantha.”
.........oh I love that

Do to the wonderfulness of my Brother and Sister getting me itunes gift cards for my b-day. I realized....Hey I am a grown-up and I can finally get the songs and music I’ve wanted to get when I was younger...but didn’t know the name or have the money/means to make this purchase.

One night I resorted back to my younger self and went nuts on itunes music store! I hunted down and purchased some of the following songs......

“Never-Ending Story Theme”---by Kajagoogoo goo and Limahl
“Spending My Time” Roxette
“ 99 Luft Ballons”
“That’s all I’ve Got to Say”----Theme from Last Unicorn
“Once Upon a Dream”---Disney Sleeping Beauty
“In Your Room” ---Bangles
“Voices Carry”----Til Tuesday AIMEE MANN
“If you were here” Thompson Twins FROM SIXTEEN CANDLES LAST SCENE

Now I loved that moment in the movie and would sigh and hug my pillow and dream away.... I love that song and think WOW when I like a boy A LOT I will have that playing in my head someday!!!

But then I listened to the words....and I had no idea it was saying what it did!!!! Very Haunting and Dark...
I mean why was it playing in that movie and at that scene?
Is there a deeper meaning that is lost on mean? Not that it was written for this movie but still.....woah.

I do still love this song and it has developed a whole new meaning for me as I am far away from my old life and certain people..... but still? Who knew?

Here are the lyrics

Song lyrics
if you were here
i could deceive you
and if you were here
you would believe
but would you suspect
my emotion wandering, yeah
do not want a part of this anymore

The rain water drips
through a crack in the ceiling
and i'll have to spend
my time on repair
But just like the rain
i'll be always falling, yeah
only to rise and fall again

if you were here
i could deceive you
and if you were here
you would believe
but would you suspect
my emotion wandering, yeah
do not want a part of this anymore...

Un-Expected Surprises to my re-location.

There are many things that I thought I would get out of my move. Knowledge of my chosen field, different perspectives, a view from the eye of Academic Science, ……

One thing is certain that this move will definitely add 15 years to my life span. Things are laid-back and peaceful sure there are big stress moments…but compared to my former life they are scraps and not major wounds.

Because I like who I am and can’t change too much ….but I am tweaked a little differently. I still get mad at things…but I calm down quicker and let them slide. I still walk obscenely fast but I pause and stop more to look around and enjoy the beautiful setting……the UK does this well because of the frequency of great park benches.

Cooking recipes was something that I had not intended to work on while I was here…but I am furthering my cooking skills. I have learned so many new recipes from friends and housemates. It is great because of the international cooking factor and the frequency of cooking that I am witnessing. I will watch a friend cook a meal one day and I will be hosting my own dinner the next day attempting to reproduce their recipe. This is the key to my success and attempt the recipe right away….so that you remember it better! Luckily here there are always willing test subjects!!!

So Far I have mastered…… Pesto Salmon, Duck with Cranberry sauce, a Shrimp-pasta dish….not quite Scampi, Plantains, and Veggie Soup…….among other things. Yummy!!!

Spring has Sprung….. Cue the Sun and Rainbows.

Sorry for the lack of blogging……I have been very busy going here and there. I think it is safe to say the periods I lapse in blogging are either my happiest or saddest days. These past weeks have been some of my happiest as the weather is improving and friendships are becoming closer and cheerier……and of course the addition of a new great companion….a funny, charming, partner-in-crime-for-exploration-of-Cambridge!